Parco dell’anfiteatro romano e Antiquarium "Alda Levi"
Milano
The
amphitheatre was built during the first decades of the 1st centuryA.D.
and was
located in a suburban area outside the town walls and the strip
delimited
by the present day ‘circle of the Navigli’canal system. The elliptical
shaped
building presented a façadewith three superimposed orders, awindowed
attic and axes
of more than 155 metres by 125 metres making it one of the largest
amphitheatres
inItaly. It heldcontests between gladiators, betweenmen and wild beasts
and
between animals, it was also the venue for executing people condemned to
be torn to
pieces by ferocious beasts. More rarely, it hosted Naval
battles. The ancient sources
offer little information regarding themonument. Paolino, the biographer
of St Ambrose
talks of Cresconius (396A.D.) being exposed towild beasts on the
occasion of Honorius’third
consulate and Claudian recollects the celebration for the consulate of
Flavius Manlius Theodorus (399 A.D.). The monument fell into disuse
after gladiatorial
spectacles had been abolished and its superstructure was exploited as a
quarry
from the late Roman period onward, providing building material for
various public
constructions within the city including the foundations for the Basilica
of S.Lorenzo. The
archaeological investigation of themonument that began in the 1930’s and
continued in the 1970’s and 1990’swas restarted thanks to the
development of
the archaeological
park, inaugurated along with the nearby Antiquarium in 2004. The park
hosts the remains of the foundations of the perimeter walls and of seven
radial walls that sustained the pit and tiers for the seating
of spectators.
Address
Via E. De Amicis, 17
20123 Milano
Timetables
Parco: martedì-venerdì 9.00-16.30 (inverno) martedì-venerdì 9.00-18.00 (estate) sabato: 9.00-14.00 Antiquarium: martedì-sabato 9.30-14.00
Information
www.parcoanfiteatromilano.beniculturali.it
sar-lom@beniculturali.it
Ph: 0289400555
Closure: domenica e lunedì
Full: gratuito