Tarragona Roman Amphitheatre

About this place

The Roman Amphitheatre of Tarragona is one of the finest monuments of Tarragona on the Catalan coast of northeast Spain, about 82 km southwest of Barcelona in a straight line. In Roman times the city was called Tarraco and was the capital of the province of Hispania Tarraconensis. The amphitheatre was built at the end of the 1st century and the start of the 2nd century AD, near the city's forum and below its walls, facing the sea. It measures 130 by 102 metres and held up to 15,000 spectators, who watched gladiator fights and animal shows. It is part of the Archaeological Ensemble of Tarraco, a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 2000. Oval tiers of golden stone slope down to the arena, with the blue Mediterranean right behind, so the amphitheatre seems to sit open to the sea. In the arena floor are stone passages and rooms that once lay beneath its wooden floor, and a green park covers the slope around the site. Visitors walk into the arena and through the vaulted passages under the tiers, then climb to the park and terrace above for the best view of the amphitheatre and the sea together. Many combine it with the city's other Roman remains, and Tarragona makes an easy day trip from Barcelona by train.