Amphitheater of Capua, the Campanian Amphitheater from the Roman period of the city of Capua. A jewel that tells of the first school of gladiators and the Spartacus revolt. An amphitheater that today is located in the splendid Santa Maria Capua Vetere in the province of Caserta, in Campania. The second in size after the Colosseum. Discovering another wonder located in Italy.
Capua Amphitheater: in the footsteps of the Campanian Amphitheater
The Campano or Capuano Amphitheater was built between the end of the XNUMXst century and the end of the XNUMXnd century AD to replace the arena of the Graccana age. The mutilated epigraph dedicated by Antoninus Pius to the emperor Hadrian tells us about its history.
«The Colonia Giulia Felice Augusta Capua made, the star Adriano Augusto restored and cared for the statues and columns to be added, the emperor Cesare T. Elio Adriano Augusto Pio dedicated. "
The amphitheater, used for gladiator games, originally appeared with the four canonical orders of terraces (ima, media and summa cavea, attic). The terraces were accessible via external and internal stairs connected to other levels of galleries. The façade also opened with eighty arches made of limestone blocks of equal width. Those placed at the four cardinal points, on the other hand, were emphasized by semi-columns resting on Tuscan-style pillars.
Wonder and magnificence showed themselves in the key arches of the first two orders of arches with ben 240 relief busts depicting the deities. Unfortunately, only twenty remain at the Capua amphitheater. Few others are kept in the National Archaeological Museum of Napoli (such as the Venera di Capua, found in the area of the amphitheater) and al Provincial Museum of Campania. One of the most fascinating curiosities of the Capua Amphitheater concerns the proximity of the School of the Gladiators. Here it began the slave rebellion led by Spartacus, the famous Thracian gladiator and leader.
The decline of the Campanian Amphitheater
The amphitheater, after the fall of the Western Roman Empire, was plundered in 456 AD with the sack of Genseric and in 841 AD by the Saracens who used it as a fortress. Furthermore, during the period of the Swabian domination, it became a quarry for the extraction of building materials. Only during the Bourbon era is the destruction put to an end thanks to the intervention of the Superintendent of the excavations Michele Arditi. Numerous, over the years, the interventions for the restoration and preservation ofRoman amphitheater bigger after the Colosseum.
Useful information for visiting the Capua Amphitheater
We advise you to visit the Museum of the Gladiators (annexed to the amphitheater) and which presents the surviving elements of the decoration of the Campanian Amphitheater.
Days and opening hours: Tuesday-Sunday. From 9.00-one hour before sunset. Weekly closing: Monday
Ticket office hours: opening at 9.00-one hour before sunset
Reservation request : None
Common: Santa Maria Capua Vetere, CE, Campania
Address: piazza I October, 1860
Entrance: € 2,50 (Museum + Amphitheater + Mithraeum + Museum of the Gladiators); Reduction 1,25 €
Phone: +39 0823 844206
Email: [email protected]
Website: , here
