Verona Arena

Built in the first century, Verona Arena, located in Piazza Bra in Verona, Italy, is one of the best-preserved ancient structures of its kind. As in all amphitheatres, Verona Arena held famous gladiator fights and the hunts of fierce exotic animals. Today, its great acoustics and unique location make the Roman arena the ideal location for opera performances that attracts hundreds of thousands of visitors to Verona every year during the festival season. The arena in Verona measures 140 m in length and 110 m in width. The original outer facade had 3 stories of arches, which was almost completely destroyed in a major earthquake in the 12th century leaving only the outer ring with two stories of arches, all built in local white and pink stone. The arena has 64 entrances and a capacity to hold 30 thousand people.

The first attempt to recover the arena's function as a theatre began during the Renaissance, and a few opera performances were later held during the 1850s. Then in 1913, on the occasion of the 100th birth anniversary of noted opera composer Giuseppe Verdi, the Verona opera festival was inaugurated and has inspired visitors to the 22,000-seat arena since then. Now events are held almost everyday between June and August, while the local opera and ballet companies perform in winter. The arena has also hosted several rock and pop concerts, which saw performances from artists like Pink Floyd, Alicia Keys, Deep Purple, Dire Straits, Rod Stewart, Sting, Björk, and Whitney Houston, to name a few.