Lutetia Arena Arènes de Lutèce

The remains of the Roman amphitheater of Paris, discovered in 1869, give some idea of the huge size of the original structure. The elliptical arena, 56m/184ft long by 48m/157ft across, is roughly the same size as the interior of the Colosseum in Rome. Gladiator and animal fights were staged here.

The amphitheater was built in the Roman city of Lutetia about A.D. 200, but later in the same century, during a barbarian incursion in 285, it was used as a quarry of stone for building defensive walls. Although it had only 36 tiers of seating it could accommodate an audience of 17,000 - almost the whole population of the city.