Guildhall Art Gallery - Amphitheatre

The Guildhall Art Gallery was originally built here in 1885 to house a collection started after the 1666 Great Fire of London with paintings of the 22 Fire Judges, who settled land disputes in the City after the fire.

The 19^th century building was destroyed by bombing in 1941 and plans for the site’s redevelopment were not put into practice until 1988.

Preparing the site for the new gallery led to the discovery of Roman London’s amphitheatre, which in turn led to the suspension of building works on the gallery. With plans suitably modified to include an area below the gallery where visitors could view the remains of the amphitheatre, the gallery opened in 1999.

The amphitheatre was first built in 70AD, probably of wood, and was enlarged in stone in around 120AD, perhaps to celebrate the visit to London of the Emperor Hadrian.

It was large enough to hold some 6000 spectators (10% of the entire population of the city) who would have watched the typical spectacles of Roman entertainment, gladiatorial fights, wild animals and public executions.