Arles Amphitheatre or “Amphithéâtre d’Arles” is a large sports arena built by the Romans around the first century BC or AD, during the reign of Augustus (27 BC – 14 AD). At the time, Arles was flourishing as a Roman colony and benefiting from the construction of several monuments, of which Arles Amphitheatre was one of the grandest.
Built to accommodate over 20,000 spectators, with over a hundred Corinthian and Doric columns spread over two levels and at a length of 136 metres, Arles Amphitheatre remains one of the town’s most impressive sites. Its excellent state of preservation means that it is even still used today, not for chariot races, but for bullfighting. This excellent state of conservation is in spite the fact that it was used as a medieval fortification.
Arles Amphitheatre is now one of the town’s UNESCO World Heritage sites.