The construction in which they used to be organized lavish gladiator fights, today is the most famous and important monument of which every city tour of Pula begins and ends with. The Arena was built in the first century during the reign of Emperor Vespasian. During the same period the largest and most famous Roman amphitheater - the Colosseum in Rome was being constructed. The amphitheater is od an elliptical shape with the main axis length of 130 meters and the shorter side of 100 meters. In the middle of the Arena is a flat area or the so called arena, while the spectators were placed on the large stone stairs overlooking the arena. According to some sources, the Arena could accomodate about 20 thousand spectators. It was built of local limestone, and during the Middle Ages was used for knight tournaments and fairs.
