The Verona Arena in Italy
The Verona Arena in Italy is located in Veneto region, not far from the splendid Venice, there is a city no less beautiful than her close “sister”. In this romantic city of Northern Italy you will breathe a dreamland atmosphere. As many of you may know, this city suspended in time is the setting of one of Shakespeare’s most famous masterpieces, Romeo and Juliet. Verona indeed it’s home to a 14th-century house said to have “Juliet’s balcony”, where thousands of visitors go to re-experience the magic story of the two star-crossed lovers. Verona is internationally known also for another amazing attraction, its majestic Verona Arena.
The Verona Arena is world’s third biggest Roman amphitheater after the Colosseum and the Campano amphitheater at Capua and it can contain about 20.000 spectators, that is believed to be the same number of the population of Verona during the construction of the impressive Arena, back to the 1st century AD. The Arena was erected right outside the walls of the city with a typical stone characterized by red and pink nuances. We can even notice the ancient walls behind the structure, that had been subjected to a terrible earthquake that occurred in 1117 and caused the destruction of the most outer ring and left 4 rows of isolated arches, that wig that is a distinctive trait of the amphitheater.
A curious anecdote is that many stones once part of the structure were reused to build palaces of monuments of the city. Around Verona in fact you can spot blocks finely decorated on the walls of Romanesque palaces in the old town center of the city, coming from the Arena. During the 16th Century, the arena was restored, that’s the reason why today it is in such a good condition and available for big events like the famous opera festival, that makes the Verona’s amphitheater the most important outdoor opera theater in the world. Due to its peculiar shape the Arena has a perfect acoustics that allows to music to be reproduced in an excellent way, so that no amplifier system would be needed.
Of course the imposing Arena was not conceived for a musical purpose, the amphitheaters were used to stage gladiators battles, races and games of different kind, most of all violent and ferocious ones, where ancient Romans literally flocked. The name Arena in fact means “sand” and comes from the sand put on the bottom of the theater with the task of absorb the blood of the fighters. Perhaps took place there also the naumachiae, that is fights among ships set right inside the amphitheaters filled with water on these occasions. Don’t miss the Arena Opera Festival until Aug 28.
No other words are needed to describe this amazing architectural wonder, you have to see it in person to seize the grandeur of a huge jump back in time in a place that seems not scratched as the millennia go by.
