Amphithéâtre Gallo-Romain

History

The Santones tribe lived in the Saintonge region at the time of the Gauls. During the reign of the Emperor Augustus, Saintes (Mediolanum Santonum) became the capital of the Roman province of Aquitania, which stretched (from the Loire to the Pyrenees).

Mediolanum was one of the first towns to have an amphitheatre, which was constructed during the reign of the Emperor Claudius in 40 to 50 A.D.

Like many amphitheatres in the Roman Empire, that of Saintes was built on the outskirts of the town on a site that is today called the "Vallon des Arènes" (Small valley of the amphitheatre). lts builders took advantage of the local topography to construct part of the amphitheatre along the slopes of the valley, meaning that they managed to reduce the amount of construction work needed.

The amphitheatre’s function was to seat the large number of spectators who came to watch such violent and bloodthirsty events as gladiatorial combats and wild animal hunts. Within this large elliptical structure, which is 126 metres long and 102 metres wide, several thousand people – a large part of the local population – couId be seated.

Today, in spite of the disappearance of its superstructures, the remains give an extremely good idea of what this amphitheatre looked like at its peak. The site is now open for visitors to discover throughout the year.