The visible remains of an

amphitheatre An amphitheatre (British English) or amphitheater (American English; both ) is an open-air venue used for entertainment, performances, and sports. The term derives from the ancient Greek ('), from ('), meaning "on both sides" or "around" and ...

constructed during

Roman London Londinium, also known as Roman London, was the capital of Roman Britain during most of the period of Roman rule. It was originally a settlement established on the current site of the City of London around AD 47–50. It sat at a key cross ...

lie beneath Guildhall Yard in the

City of London The City of London is a city, ceremonial county and local government district that contains the historic centre and constitutes, alongside Canary Wharf, the primary central business district (CBD) of London. It constituted most of London f ...

. Some of these remains are displayed ''in situ'' in a room in the basement of the

Guildhall Art Gallery The Guildhall Art Gallery houses the art collection of the City of London, England. The museum is located in the Moorgate area of the City of London. It is a stone building in a semi-Gothic style intended to be sympathetic to the historic Guil ...

complex. Discovered in 1988, the site is now a

scheduled monument In the United Kingdom, a scheduled monument is a nationally important archaeological site or historic building, given protection against unauthorised change. The various pieces of legislation that legally protect heritage assets from damage and d ...

London's first

Roman amphitheatre Roman amphitheatres are theatres – large, circular or oval open-air venues with raised seating – built by the ancient Romans. They were used for events such as gladiator combats, '' venationes'' (animal slayings) and executions. About 230 Ro ...

was built in

AD 70 AD 70 ( LXX) was a common year starting on Monday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Vespasian and Titus (or, less frequently, year 823 ''Ab urbe condita''). Th ...

from wood, but was renovated in the early 2nd century with tiled entrances and

rag-stone Rag-stone is a name given by some architectural writers to work done with stones that are quarried in thin pieces, such as Horsham Stone, sandstone, Yorkshire stone, and the slate stones, but this is more properly flag or slab work. Near London ...

walls. The

was used for various public events such as gladiator games, entertaining soldiers and the public with

animal fighting A blood sport or bloodsport is a category of sport or entertainment that involves bloodshed. Common examples of the former include combat sports such as cockfighting and dog fighting, and some forms of hunting and fishing. Activities characte ...

and public

execution Capital punishment, also known as the death penalty, is the state-sanctioned practice of deliberately killing a person as a punishment for an actual or supposed crime, usually following an authorized, rule-governed process to conclude that ...

of criminals, as well as religious activities. After the

ancient Romans In modern historiography, ancient Rome refers to Roman civilisation from the founding of the city of Rome in the 8th century BC to the collapse of the Western Roman Empire in the 5th century AD. It encompasses the Roman Kingdom (753–509 ...

left in the 4th century, the amphitheatre lay derelict for hundreds of years. In the 11th century the area was reoccupied and by the 12th century the first London Guildhall was built next to it, which survives despite the Great Fire of London and

The Blitz The Blitz was a German bombing campaign against the United Kingdom in 1940 and 1941, during the Second World War. The term was first used by the British press and originated from the term , the German word meaning 'lightning war'. The Germa ...

. Various other buildings were constructed around the site of the amphitheatre, which eventually became the public plaza of Guildhall Yard seen today. The formal entrance to Guildhall Yard included a gatehouse built in the 13th century, sited directly directly over the southern entrance to the Roman amphitheatre. The church of

St Lawrence Jewry St Lawrence Jewry next Guildhall is a Church of England guild church in the City of London on Gresham Street, next to Guildhall. It was destroyed in the Great Fire of London in 1666, and rebuilt to the designs of Sir Christopher Wren. It is the ...

, on the south side of Guildhall Yard, is built on an irregular alignment which may have been intended to shadow the elliptical form of the amphitheatre. The

, on the northern side of the plaza, was completed in 1999, the basement of which provides access to an excavated section of the Roman-era remains. The perimeter of the amphitheatre is marked at surface level on Guildhall Yard by a band of dark stone.Atlas Obscura - Guildhall's Underground Amphitheatre
/ref>

References

External links

London's Roman AmphitheatreGuildhall Art Gallery
{{authority control 70s establishments in the Roman Empire 1988 in London Archaeological museums in London Museums of ancient Rome in the United Kingdom London amphitheatre Roman London Scheduled monuments in London

See also

References

External links