Not in Rome or in Italy: This amphitheater built by the Romans witnessed brutal gladiatorial battles 2,000 years ago
This is the story of the Pula Arena in Croatia, one of only six large Roman arenas that survive today.
Tucked away along the Adriatic coast of modern-day Croatia, the Pula Arena stands as one of the best-preserved Roman amphitheaters in the world.
While thinking of gladiatorial combats may bring you to the Colosseum in Rome, this huge structure reminds us that the mighty Roman Empire stretched far beyond Italian soil.
Built with local limestone in the 1st century AD during the reign of Emperor Vespasian, the same emperor who commissioned the Colosseum, the 32-metre high Pula Arena was designed to host up to 23,000 spectators and contained a series of arches on the top floor that once served to support an awning that protected the spectators from the sun.
National Geographic explains that as for the use of the arena, it was mainly for celebrations of blood and death, as animals were placed inside the arena to fight as well as unlucky warriors.
What makes the Pula Arena particularly extraordinary is not just its ancient past, but its curious survival. Unlike many Roman amphitheaters, which were dismantled, repurposed or fell into ruin, this one remained remarkably intact thanks to iron bars placed inside holes carved into the stones, as well as the public’s recognition of their history and the arena’s significance to that.
Its four towers and nearly complete outer walls still rise proudly above the city, a reminder of both engineering genius and the darker side of Roman culture.
Today, the arena regularly welcomes visitors as it hosts concerts and film festivals, a far cry from cheering for blood. Every year, a large number of tourists make the journey to see the Pula Arena in all its astonishing - and perhaps eerie - glory.
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