Invisible
Archaeological dig records new research, crop markings, references in literature or old maps indicate an amphitheatre in these locations, however either nothing is visible above ground (Invisible) or the site is unknown/unconfirmed or undiscovered (Lost) In the case of invisible sites, maybe a hint of a street pattern or a curve in the buildings a road name or an information sign. Some are worth visiting because there’s other stuff in the vicinity and because you can only get the ‘sense of place’ and the 3D reality of the topography by actually going there. Their true ‘invisibility’ will only be confirmed once I get chance to go there myself so the list will be amended over time.
I1. Liebnitz, Austria. What3words rinsed.quibble.admire
I2. Aldborough, England. What3words stunning.couch.shameless
I3. Caistor St Edmund, England. What3words quibble.anchorman.insurance
Dip in a field.
I4. Amiens France What3words – ties.instead.latest
Nothing visible. Just Northwest of the Hotel de Ville.
I5. Angers. France. What3words. Booklet.magazine.offhand
Rue des Arenes. Excavated in 19th century. Curtain walls and sub-structure.
I6. Antibes France (Antipolis). What3words – inseparable.backwater.nourished
French Riviera resort made popular by local resident Brigitte Bardot. Antipolis was an important Roman Port served by two aqueducts. Archaeological investigation located the remains of its amphitheatre in the western part of the old town. They lie somewhere beneath the College Departmental Fersen. No Visible trace.
I7. Metz France. What3words – beaters.riders.flow
Nothing visible. Excavated in 1903. Obliterated by railway sidings and roads. Avenue de l’amphitheatre and passage de l’amphitheatre meet at its centre.
I8. Narbonne France What3words – stumps.bricks.marshes
Location excavated and covered over. Location north of Avenue Paul Tournal centred on Rue Paul Thiers. Rue Jean Deschamps flats curve around site, possibly avoiding buried remains. No visible signs.
I9. Reims. France. What3words. Wells.league.breeding
N. of Rue di Mont d’Arene just off the D57 Rue des Romains. Remains existed until mid 19th Century. Rediscovered by excavation in 2000 in connection with tramway.
I10.Rouen France. What3words – talking.slogans.select
Rue du Donjon. Curtain wall remains of amphitheatre (or possibly theatre) beneath the foundations of castle.
I11. St Georges-du-Bois. France. What3words – asking.caps.gloomier
Traces in a field outside the village. Settlement covered by forest then revealed by agriculture
I12. Birten. Germany.What3words. tawdry.unfreeze.twee
Not sure if anything visible. Castrum military amphitheatre, similar to arrangement at Petronell.
I13. Kunzing, Quintana. Germany. What3words wanderer.bedbugs.dread
Excavated 2004-5 and re-buried. Wooden Amphitheatre. Curve in road and modern wooden structure showing size built above ground.
I14. Komarom. Hungary. What3words conflict.drew.brighter
18th century traveller reported amphitheatre. Little remaining evidence.
I15.Altino. Italy. What3words plenty.mildness.squares
Roman port city on Venetian lagoon completely lost to silt. Rediscovered by geo imaging.
I16. Aquileia. Italy. What3words netball.navigable.grump
Roman inland port city sacked by Attila the Hun and lost for centuries. Little excavated and surrounding rivers and canals have changed course. Remains of the amphitheatre excavated in the garden of Palazzo Brunner in Via Roma, south of the great baths.
L17.Folgino, Fulginium. Italy. What3words jeeps.montage.asteroid
Discovered 2023 not yet excavated.
I18.Fondi, Fonds. Italy. What3words chat.resides.breed
Discovered 2021, some excavation
I19.Trento, Tridentum. Italy. What3words rockets.tickets.blazed
Alleyway and small square Piazette Dell’Anfiteatro with tell tale curve in the buildings on the east side. The large church of St Peter and St Paul sits right on the elliptical site suggested by the curve.
I20. Velletri. Veletrea. Italy. What3words truth.already.lemmings
Records confirm repair and refurbishment of amphitheatre in late Roman Period. Roads and buildings describe a large and almost circular perimeter on west side of Piazza Mazzini. No visble remains or street names.
I21. Canosia di Puglia. Italy. What3words rich.scrum.changing
There’s a Via Del Anfiteatro and a documented site to the south of it but no apparent visible remains.
I22. Naples. Italy. What3words bunkers.powerful.known
Not the well known and much visited Flavian Amphitheatre, but one lost beneath the streets of the old city which follow its curves. The ground level of the structure is 10-12 metres below the present day streets and substantial remains of circulation tunnels are down there – none that the visitor can see or get to ‘though.
I23. Nora. Sardinia. What3words master.stemmed.tusks
Great ruins and archaeological site. Old photographs show the lines of a smallish oval amphithetare on the narrow isthmus joining it to the mainland. Paved area marks the site and line of curved wall found in 1901.
I24. Tusculum. Italy. What3words pelting.monk.ranges
Abandoned Roman city in the Alban hills. Site of Cicero’s villa. Excavated in the 19th century. Amphitheatre site appears to be marked by sharp bend in the road to the west. Covered by woodland.
I25. Nijmegen, Netherlands. What3words ramming.talkers.slogged
Paving markings on Rembrandtstraat indicate some foundations.
I26. Newstead, Scotland. What3words tonsils.stimulator.proven
Slight kink in the trackway and a dip in the field gives away the site of the most northerly verified amphitheatre. Military and associated with the large outpost fort of Trimontium.
I27. Bienvenida, Spain. What3words rented.upon.ingests
Unexcavated fairly obvious dip in the ground within the confines of this remote Roman site.
I28. Cartagena, Spain. What3words exams.pyramid.sweated
Amphitheatre site long known but obliterated by later (now derelict) Bullring. Work in progress to excavate and display remains.
I29. Cordoba, Spain. What3words tokens.declares.bronzer
Amphitheatre remains discovered to the rear of the University Rectory. Excavation and presentation a work in progress. Thought to be a very big amphitheatre.
I30. Bosra, Syria. What3words stiffen.tally.gutless
Adjacent to a wonderfully preserved theatre. The site is the right shape and shows signs of remains and excavation but not much information on mapping.
I31. Agbia, Tunisia. What3words tripped.uptight.purely
Lemon-shaped dip in the ground, possibly some masonry, close to known roman site.
I32. Tebourba, Tunisia. What3words pertinence.suitcase.literalist
Reportedly visible in the 18th century but destroyed when a nearby bridge was constructed. No streetview or clear aerial photography available but there’s an oval patch of ground of the right size. Alternative claims are that a pit near the cemetery across the river is the site samosas.perceptions.pleasant
I33.Caerwent, Wales. What3words diggers.lawns.winners
Excavations in the meadows NW of Basilica in 1903 found remains. Nothing visible
Lost
The site is unknown/unconfirmed or undiscovered (Lost)
1. Rome 4 Amphitheatre of Statilus Taurus
2. Rome 5 Amphitheatre of Nero
3. Fidenae. Italy. A wooden amphitheatre collapsed here in AD 27 killing up to 20.000 people
4. Fermo. Firmum Picenum. Italy
5. Vescovio. Forum Novum. Italy
6. Pupput, Hammamet. Tunisia
7. Sousse, Hadrumentum. Tunisia
7. Enfidaville, Upenna. Tunisia
8. Colchester, Camulodunum. England
9. Carpis. Tunisia
10. Skikda, Rusicade. Algeria. Described in Gsell, Monuments antiques de l’Algerie (1901) but said to have been removed in 1945
11. Mesarfelta, Algeria. Inscription on stone refers to the amphitheatre. Site unknown
12. Siddi Bel Abbes, Tigava Castra. Algeria. Earthen Rampart in fortifications, possibly military amphitheatre. Now lost
13. Meaux. France. Believed to be at the site of the road junction of Rue du Faubourg St-Nicholas and Rue Aristide Briand. No visible remains or other indications
14. Orange. France. 200m west of the old city at junction of D17 and Avenue de 18 Juin 1940. Recorded in a 1639 publication and excavated in 1822. No traces remain, site of a roundabout and McDonalds.
15. Aquino. Italy. Remnants of amphitheatre discovered during roadworks.
16. Palermo Sicily. Believed to have been on the site of the Piazza S. Domenico. There’s one of those otherwise unexplicable curved building lines on the south side of the square.
17. Parma. Italy. Believed to have been somewhere in the vicinity of Borgo Lalatta.
18. Reggio Emiliana. Regium Lepidi. Italy. 2016 research and underground imaging suggests a substantial oval foundation some 10m beneath current street level in the north-west corner of the public gardens at the junction of Viale Isonzo and Viale Antonio Allegri
19. Taneto Di Gattatico. Tanetum. Italy. 2016 theory based on ‘now you see it, now you don’t’ crop markings photographed in fields to the south west of the village showing an outline ‘lemon’ shape very similar in size and configuration to that at Rusellae.
20. Taranto. Tarentum. Italy. Via Anfiteatro forms part of the regular grid of streets on the south side of the harbour entrance. Nothing else visible or known.
21. Pavia. Ticinum. Italy. Remains known until 3rd century. Alleyway named Via Anfiteatro between Via Alessandro Volta and Via Porta Palacense
22. Apt. Apta Julia. France. This appears in the Wikipedia list but with a footnote saying there’s a theatre but no amphitheatre. There are some of the usual curves in local streets – particularly Rue De La Merliere and Rue St. Pierre but nothing conclusive. The museum is known to have the theatre remains below it, however the street to the south of it is named Rue De L’Amphitheatre (That could of course result from the fairly common conflation of Theatre and Amphitheatre)