Martigny amphitheater
The amphitheater of Martigny was built at the beginning of the second century AD in the Roman city of Forum Claudii Vallensium , capital of the then Vallis Poenina in Germania superior , today's Martigny in the Swiss canton of Valais . The construction most likely dates from the reign of Emperor Trajan .
With dimensions of 75.5 × 63.7 meters, this is a small amphitheater . As with all six buildings of this type known to date in Switzerland, it is a pure earth structure, the wall structures of which were only used to support the earth under the rising spectator tiers and to create the entrances. The cavea , d. H. the spectator tiers, consisted exclusively of the slope that was created when the arena was built. The Pulvinar on the southeast side, a box for the magistrates , was accessible via an arched corridor. The building offered space for around 5,000 spectators and had neither internal corridors nor ramps.
The painter Raphael Ritz began archaeological excavations in Martigny around 1883 . However, this was not continued on a larger scale until 1978 when the site was acquired by the Swiss Confederation . In 1991 the amphitheater was inaugurated for the 700th anniversary celebration of the Swiss Confederation with Arthur Honegger's oratorio Nicolas de Flue . Today it is among other things a venue for open-air film screenings in the summer and cow fights .
literature
- Philippe Bridel: Amphitheater. In: Historical Lexicon of Switzerland .
- François Wiblé: Forum Claudii Vallensium. In: Historical Lexicon of Switzerland .
Web links
Coordinates: 46 ° 5 ′ 40 " N , 7 ° 4 ′ 24" E ; CH1903: 571 747 / 104837