Arena of Nîmes

The Arena of Nîmes is a Roman amphitheatre, situated in the French city of Nîmes. Built around 70 CE, shortly after the Coliseum of Rome, it is one of the best-preserved Roman amphitheatres in the world. It is 133m long and 101m wide, with an arena measuring 68m by 38m. The outer facade is 21m high with two stories of 60 arcades. It is among the 20 largest Roman amphitheatres of the 400 in existence. In Roman times, the building could hold 24,000 spectators, who were spread over 34 tiers of terraces divided into four self-contained zones or maeniana. The arena served as a public event theatre built by the Romans as well as a gladiator fighting arena.