The jagged outline of the houses in Piazza dell'Anfiteatro stands out against a blue sky. On the left, a small olive branch.

Piazza Anfiteatro

The Roman amphitheatre, now buried about three metres below ground, was built outside the walls in the 1st or 2nd century AD. Elliptical in shape, on the outside it had two superimposed orders of fifty-five arches on pillars that supported the cavea, which in turn consisted of twenty steps and could hold ten thousand spectators.

The building, which fell into ruin during the barbarian invasions, served for centuries as a quarry for building materials: it's no coincidence that during the Middle Ages it was known as "grotte" (caves). In particular, it was stripped of its entire cladding and all its columns. Later, houses and buildings began to be built on the remaining ruins, using the remaining structures of the Amphitheater to perfectly preserve its shape.

L'current splendid square, singular and unique in its kind, was built by the architect Nottolini (from 1830) who had some buildings in the centre demolished and created the street called the Amphitheatre around it.