Arènes de Lutèce

About this place

The Arènes de Lutèce are among the most important ancient Roman remains in Paris, together with the Thermes de Cluny. Constructed in the 1st century AD, this theatre could once seat 15,000 people and was used also as an amphitheatre to show gladiatorial combats. The terraced seating surrounded more than half of the arena's circumference, more typical of an ancient Greek theatre rather than a Roman one which was semi-circular. The orchestra was surrounded by the wall of a podium 2.5 m high, surmounted by a parapet. A series of nine niches were most likely used for statues. Five small rooms were situated beneath the lower terraces, some of which appear to have been animal cages that opened directly into the arena. Follow the relationship between the audience area and the performance space. The layout reveals how builders gathered a crowd and focused its attention, connecting the surviving monument with the people who once came here for shared public entertainment.