Arena, Verona

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Very huge amphitheatre. In dementions Arena is inferior only to the Roman coliseum. Gladiatorial battles were conducted in the antique times on it, into the Middle Ages - the knightly tournaments.
Today's Arena is immense auditorium in 25 000 places.

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The Arena di Verona, host each summer to the Verona Opera season, is probably the world's most remarkable opera house. Verona combines a quite unique setting with productions and performances of a consistently high standard. It also helps to have a sonically perfect 2000-year-old Roman amphitheatre in which to stage productions evoking an atmosphere like nowhere else. Think a rather less battered version of the Colosseum in Rome and you have a picture of the Arena di Verona. Built in 30AD just outside the then city walls of the city, the Arena was conceived as a stadium for the games, the 'ludii', the circuses with which the Roman government kept the people happy. And the quite unique nature of the event makes it a magnet for the major names in opera. Today, visitors come from all over the world to see the Verona Opera summer season, which in 2006 includes standards from the repertoire, including Aida, Tosca, Carmen, Madame Butterfly, Cavelleria Rusticana and its traditional counterpart, I Pagliacci. The Arena sits 20,000, from the 'Poltronissime' to the unreserved places on the upper stone galleries. Vertiginously high, you are propped here on the upper ramparts of the original stadium.

We went to visit Verona for two concerts! Duran Duran and Lenny Kravitz. Both spectacular. And the fantastic Arena di Verona gave a magical atmosphere to the event. I went to many different concerts but no place was more enjoyable than the Arena.

Arena, after juiliette, the most famous thing in verona. It is around 2000 years old and is th efocal point of the Piazza Bra. It can seat over 20000 people and is still used today for operas and concerts. €2 entry. Around the arena is a lot of hustle and bustle with men dressed up as roman guards, street entertainers and people trying to sell you all sorts of rubbish.....

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The Arena is Verona's most famous landmark, the third largest Roman amphitheatre still in existence. It is still in use, but not as originally intended ! The summer season of opera performances is world-famous, and many other concerts are held here as well. But that is another story, and can be found elsewhere in these pages.

From the outside the arena doesn't appear as grand as the Colliseum in Rome, for very little of the outer wall remains, having been destroyed by an earthquake in 1183. The buildings that surround it on the opposite side from Piazza Bra are as tall as the walls, and seem to scale down the arena walls. Once you get inside, and climb up the stairs to enter the upper levels you realise just how big the Arena is. Outside of the summer season, you can wander all round inside the amphitheatre, and appreciate the scale of it, in the summer access is restricted to only half of the arena, and the centre is taken up with seating. Climb up to the top, sit on the stone steps and take in the view. It's a memory that will stay with you.

The two pictures showing the empty arena were taken on a cloudy day in September 1995, the others were taken in July 2005.

The most striking 'must see' in Verona is the arena. The first time I came to Verona to visit especially this Roman amphitheater. I spent hours inside, exploring every corner and feeling the atmosphere in this enormous construction.

During the VT meeting in a bar nearby I had to leave the party and walked to the Piazza Bra to have a glimpse of the illuminated outside of the arena. Druing my next visit I hope to attend one of the famous opera performances given in this well preserved arena.

The amphitheatre, built in AD 30, could host more than 30.000 spectators. The round facade was originally built in white and pink limestone, but after a earthquake in the 12th century, which almost completely destroyed the outer ring, the stones of the arena were used for rebuilding other buildings.

During the Renaissance the arena started again to get its function back as a theatre. The arena has outstanding acoustics for musical performances. Nowadays there are several opera productions each year during the summer months.

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The infamous Arena certainly has a magnetic pull, tourists are drawn to Verona for this reason, particularly during the summer months when the opera season prevails. There's nothing like sitting in an ancient roman Arena, breathing in the fresh night air, and listening to some of the world's best opera singers pour their souls out. Even if you don't like opera, I highly encourage you to attend merely for the experience. It brings chills to my being even now, just remembering the way I felt there. Just bring an umbrella, because the rain is incredibly unpredictable. Also, don't be shocked if your show is cancelled due to rain.

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I liked the inside of the theatre even more than the outside. My mother and I weren't very lucky because we visited it during works, but we took some beautiful pics. We even saw a fossil, look in the other photos!