When you enter in the park you immediately notice some of the walls belonging to the Amphitheatre and a large building behind.  

There’s not much left of the superb elliptical structure which measures about 121- 123 metres in diameter and was probably three storey high. You can see only little traces of the upper part of the Amphitheatre for example a flight of steps that unfortunately are not there anymore . It was built between the first and second century A.D. and it’s undoubtedly one of the major amphitheatres existing in Italy today. It was quite big and could hold between 8,000 and 10,000 people. It was used for cruel spectacles, such as fights between slaves and people who had been condemned to death, hunts, battles between men and ferocious animals and simulated naval combat. There was even an hydraulic system which connected the nearby river Castro to the amphitheatre. 

In the middle ages the Amphitheatre was called Parlagio and it belonged to a powerful family called Azzi. Later on in 1333 it was bought by Bernardo Tolomei founder of Olivetani Order. The Olivetani took up permanent residence in the remains of the Amphitheatre and they built their Monastery there.Today here there is an Archeological Museum of the town. It’s worth a visit!! 

The monument was used as a stone quarry to get material to build the nearby Church of San Bernardo, the cloister and a stretch of the medicean town walls. The Olivetani used it  as a churchyard too. So at the beginning of the XX^th century it was almost completely destroyed and covered with earth. It was only in the 1920’s that it was restored. 

Archaeological excavations brought to light objects of different historical periods, many metallic tools for varied use and many pieces of ancient broken glass, broken marble, mosaics, bricks and medieval pottery, a lot of money which represented a real treasure for the town and even a human skeleton and Christian sepulchre. 

In the garden around it you can see a big bust of Mecenate