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Picture of the day
Roman amphitheatre of Italica
The Roman amphitheatre of Italica is a ruined Roman amphitheatre situated outside the ancient Roman settlement of Italica in Andalusia, Spain, near the modern city of Seville. It was built during the reign of the emperor Hadrian (who was born in Italica), approximately between the years 117 and 138, and was one of the largest amphitheatres in the Roman Empire. With a capacity of 25,000 spectators, it had an elliptical shape of around 160 by 137 metres (525 by 449 ft), with three levels of stands: the first of these remains intact, the second partially so, and the third is mostly in ruin. The amphitheatre, along with the rest of Italica, was largely abandoned by the Romans in the 3rd century. It was rediscovered in the 17th century during the Renaissance, and work to unearth the amphitheatre began in the late 19th century. It is now a tourist site offering visitor tours, and also featured in the TV series Game of Thrones as the dragonpit of King's Landing. This panoramic photograph shows the interior of the amphitheatre in 2015.Photograph credit: Diego Delso