The city of Paris was built on the ruines of Lutetia, the trading city of the Roman Empire. All that remains of this era in the capital is a rare vestige, a Gallo-Roman amphitheatre that has withstand the ravages of time. These arenas were built between the end of the 1st century and the begining of the second, and measured 132 metres long and 100 metres wide. They were almost certainly destroyed during the barbarian invasions in 285. However, they were repaired during the 6th century by the Merovingians. According to writen records, King Chilperic had them rebuild in 577 for the purpose of staging shows.
The original design of this hemicycle was hybrid, as it was used as both a circus and a theatre. In fact, these arenas where used for both theatrical performances and gladiatorial fights. The capacity of the arena is estimated at 17 000 spectateurs, compared with Lutetia ' s population of nearly 20 000 : almost the entire population could take part in the shows. Over the following years, the arenas were only used occasionally, and gradually over the following centuries, they were buried by several cubic metres of earth. As a result, Parisians forgotten it ever existed. It wasn ' t until the 1860s that they were discovered by chance during the Haussmann redevelopement works when the Monge Street built. However, Napoleon III did not want to go ahead with the rehabilitation and the arenas were once again covered with earth, with the idea of destroying them. |
