The Roman Amphitheatre of Cagliari is an ancient

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 ...

, located in the city of

Cagliari Cagliari (, also , , ; sc, Casteddu ; lat, Caralis) is an Italian municipality and the capital of the island of Sardinia, an autonomous region of Italy. Cagliari's Sardinian name ''Casteddu'' means ''castle''. It has about 155,000 inhabitant ...

, southern

Sardinia Sardinia ( ; it, Sardegna, label=Italian, Corsican and Tabarchino ; sc, Sardigna , sdc, Sardhigna; french: Sardaigne; sdn, Saldigna; ca, Sardenya, label=Algherese and Catalan) is the second-largest island in the Mediterranean Sea, after ...

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...

. The structure, built in the 2nd century AD, was half carved in the rock, while the rest was built in local white

limestone Limestone ( calcium carbonate ) is a type of carbonate sedimentary rock which is the main source of the material lime. It is composed mostly of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different crystal forms of . Limestone forms whe ...

, with a façade surpassing 20 m in height. The building axes measured about 93x80, those of the arena about 46.20x31.00. The surface of the arena was 1124.27 square meters. It housed fights between men and animals, of gladiators and other specialized fighters recruited in and outside Sardinia. It was also the seat of public executions. It could house up to 8,000 spectators, some one fourth of the Roman ''Caralis''. The

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 ...

was no longer in use starting from the 5th century AD and was subsequently used as a free stone quarry by the rulers of the area, from the Byzantines, the

Republic of Pisa The Republic of Pisa ( it, Repubblica di Pisa) was an independent state centered on the Tuscan city of Pisa, which existed from the 11th to the 15th century. It rose to become an economic powerhouse, a commercial center whose merchants dominated ...

, the

House of Aragon House of Aragon may refer to: *the branch of the Jiménez dynasty that ruled Aragon as kings between 1035 and 1162 *the House of Barcelona, which ruled Aragon between 1137 and 1410, united Aragon and Catalonia and ruled Sicily from 1282 until 1409 ...

and others. The area was acquired by the ''

comune The (; plural: ) is a local administrative division of Italy, roughly equivalent to a township or municipality. It is the third-level administrative division of Italy, after regions ('' regioni'') and provinces (''province''). The can also ...

'' of Cagliari in the 19th century and excavated under the direction of a clergyman,

Giovanni Spano Giovanni Spano (born Ploaghe, Sardinia, 3 March 1803; died Cagliari, Sardinia, 3 April 1878), also a priest and a linguist, is considered one of the first archaeologists to study the Mediterranean island of Sardinia. After elementary school ...

References

External links

Article in ''La Nuova Sardegna''
website

M. Dadea, L’anfiteatro romano di Cagliari, collana “Sardegna archeologica. Guide e Itinerari”, Sassari,Carlo Delfino, 2006 {{Coord, 39.223914, N, 9.113216, E, display=title Buildings and structures in Cagliari Buildings and structures completed in the 2nd century

Roman sites of Sardinia

See also

References

External links