Sutri Amphitheatre

The amphitheatre of Sutri is one of the most remarkable and least-known ancient monuments in northern Lazio, lying just outside the historic town of Sutri in the Viterbo province along the old Via Cassia. What makes it extraordinary is that it was not built up from blocks but carved entirely downward out of a single mass of soft volcanic tufa, the whole oval arena, its tiered seating and its vaulted entrance passages hewn directly from the living rock. Believed to date from the late Republican or early Imperial Roman period, possibly on Etruscan foundations, it could seat several thousand spectators and is unusually complete, its grassy elliptical floor still ringed by rows of rock-cut seats shaded by trees. The amphitheatre forms the centrepiece of the Parco Regionale dell'Antichissima Città di Sutri, a small archaeological park that also contains other rock-cut wonders. Chief among them is the Mitreo, a cave church carved into the cliff that began as a Roman or Etruscan tomb, was later used as a Mithraeum, a temple to the god Mithras, and finally converted into the Christian church of the Madonna del Parto, its frescoed interior reflecting these layers of use. Nearby an Etruscan necropolis of tombs is cut into the same tufa cliffs. Visitors can wander the arena floor, climb among the rock seating, and explore the cave church and tombs, all in a tranquil green setting rarely troubled by crowds. A visit takes around one to 1.5 hours and combines well with the medieval town of Sutri above. The park is generally free or very inexpensive to enter, and the town centre adds churches and old lanes worth a stroll. Sutri is reached easily by car along the Via Cassia, or by bus from Rome. As a scope-specific, crowd-free marvel of the Tuscia, the rock-cut amphitheatre of Sutri rewards the curious traveller.