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Sitting in the center of Piazza Brà is Verona Arena (Arena di Verona), an ancient Roman amphitheater build in 30 AD. It’s one of the best preserved ancient amphitheaters and is still in use today. The arena is part of the UNESCO World Heritage listing for the city of Verona.
The Verona Arena once held over 30,000 spectators. It featured games and performances, and was famous all over the ancient world. Nowadays, the arena can hold about 15,000 people for concerts and operas. Several notable musicians have performed there.
Visiting the Arena
It’s possible to visit the arena for €10 (as of August 2023) or free with the Verona Card. We were also able to visit a special Christmas exhibition of nativity scenes from around the world for a few extra euros.
At first, we explored some of the dark tunnels and large arches that run around the arena.
We then entered through a tunnel that took us up to the arena floor. We were able to walk around on the surface to see how the arena would look to a performer (or maybe a gladiator?).
Then it was up into the seating area to get a look at the entire arena. We imagined how it would have been in ancient Roman times, with gladiators battling to the death. We also thought it would be a unique place to attend an opera or concert, but unfortunately it was winter and there were no performances.
From the very top, we were able to see the entire arena floor as well as some good views of Piazza Brà down below.
