Overview
Just downstream from the cathedral, the elliptical cavea of the ancient building must have been able to accommodate up to ten thousand spectators. It had been built in the time of Augustus and redeveloped under Trajan, only to be abandoned around the 4th century and transformed first into a burial place and then into a convenient quarry from which to plunder building material to be re-employed elsewhere or even not far away: the church of St Gregory and the monastery of St Bartholomew in fact incorporated what remained. Only in the early 19th century was it realised again that Ancona had an amphitheatre from the imperial age.
Paradoxically, earthquake tragedies can have side effects that are not all bad. In fact, it was the 1972 earthquake that gave rise to systematic archaeological excavations in the area, leading to the discovery of a Roman bath complex, its basin covered with marble slabs and mosaic floors.
Via Birarelli Giuseppe, 3, 60121 Ancona AN, Italia
