The largest on the Balkans area amphitheatre has revealed more of its ruins in the heart of Sofia during excavations further to the centre city. Photo by Yuliana Nikolova (Sofia News Agency)
The largest on the Balkans area amphitheatre has revealed more of its ruins in the heart of Sofia.
The ancient amphitheatre, which had entertained the ancient city of Serdika in the end of 3rd and the beginning of 4th century B.C. has a diameter of 60 x 40 meters - some 10 meters less than Rome's Colliseum.
Excavations have shown that beneath it there are probably ruins of an older ancient theatre - a unique combination for those times, archeologists commented.
The amphitheatre places Bulgaria's capital next to another two European cities perched on such ancient building.
So far, only Madrid and Paris have had large amphitheatres within the city's boundaries.
An ancient amphitheatre was unearthed in centre Sofia last year, while an excavator machine was digging up for the fundamentals of an eight-storey hotel in downtown city.
The building company Fairplay has immediately redrafted construction plans to include the unearthed parts in the hotel's interior.
The arena for beast fight has revealed the "menians" - the seats for noble Roman patricians.
Archaeologists have unearthed thousands of bronze and one gold coin with the image of Emperor Constantinos the Great.