A PARISIAN AMPHITHEATRE? / HIDDEN PARIS

​

I have something to confess. I love young adult romance novels. That's right, the sappy, partly cringey, wholly predictable romances between teenagers in love. I was reading Stephanie Perkins' Anna and the French Kiss for probably the tenth time (no judgement, please) and something caught my attention that hadn't before. The main characters stumble upon Les Arènes de Lutèce (Lutèce being the ancient name for Paris in the Gallo-Roman era) in the 5ème arrondissement, and I must admit that I was really intrigued. Could there really be an amphitheatre hidden away in the Latin Quarter? Why hadn't I heard of it?

So on a sunny Friday evening, I headed to the metro in search of these Roman ruins. The closest metro stop is Place Monge, serviced by the light pink Line 7 (Cardinal Lemoine on Line 10 is also close). Be warned - Place Monge metro is directly underneath the amphitheatre so there are a fair amount of stairs to get to ground level, let's just say that was a work out I wasn't expecting.

The entrance to Les Arènes de Lutèce doesn't give much away. From the outside it looks like a circular park with a mound in the middle. The amphitheatre is set inside a pretty tall mound, which enhances it's grand scale when viewed from the top.

It was constructed in 1 Century AD and could once seat 15,000 spectators for gladiatorial combat shows. A second part of the amphitheatre was unfortunately lost in the construction of homes in the area. Les Arènes have also been used as a cemetery and were filled in the 13th Century. They were rediscovered and protected after plans to build a tramway uncovered them in the 1800s.

Supposedly animals were kept  in these built in cages before fights

Nowadays, the amphitheatre is used as a place to kick a ball around after school or have a game of boules with friends (seriously, I saw three different groups playing boules, it was so French).

I have never read about Les Arènes in any bloggers guide to Paris, nor Pinterest, or Instagram - nothing. The amphitheatre is a small thing to come and visit, but if you like doing slightly unique things when you travel, this should be on your list. A photo of you in a Roman amphitheatre in Paris is bound to strike more conversations than you at the Tour Eiffel.

My best tips include: coming in to Place Monge metro, it literally couldn't be any closer; visit Les Arènes de Lutèce in the early morning so it's not filled with school kids; if you want to make your adventure in the Latin Quarter a little longer, walk up the road to the Panthéon, it took me little over ten minutes and is well worth seeing.