Top of the Amphitheater of Arles

I wasn’t expecting to be able to climb to the top of the amphitheater of Arles. There was structure which looked like a lookout tower which allows visitors to climb all the way to the top where they can get sweeping views of the city of Arles. I wasn’t sure what the purpose of the tower was but I suspect it may have something to do with the time when the amphitheater was turned into a fort. These days, it is just a viewing platform, though it may not be that obvious. One needs to be careful when climbing the tower since can be a bit dangerous especially when someone else is coming down while you are going up.

A Look at the Amphitheater of Arles

When you reach the top you can appreciate the view of the city of Arles. One can see the the river from here and realize that Arles isn’t that large after all, at least the historical district isn’t. One surprise here was that visitors can see the top of the amphitheater itself. The way the amphitheater was constructed was numerous arches were built in a circle and they were filled up. This formed the foundation of the amphitheater and another set of arches were built on top of the first one and so on eventually completing the amphitheater. The top of the amphitheater shows the last level of arches that were laid. There isn’t much to see here but it is interesting to see how they were constructed in the first place.

[xmlgm {http://www.worldwanderings.net/kml/AmphitheaterofArles.kmz} zoom=19]