Tarragona Amphitheatre

About this place

Built in the 2nd century CE, this arena hosted the public spectacles of Roman Tarraco. Its surviving structure beside the Mediterranean makes the city's ancient past unusually easy to picture. Read the shape of the seating and central arena to imagine the organisation of large crowds. The arena could accommodate a large public audience, showing the resources devoted to entertainment in a Roman provincial capital. Its history is tied to Tarraco rather than to an isolated rural settlement. Combining the visit with an awareness of the surrounding ancient city helps place the surviving ruin in its original urban setting.