Amphitheater of Marcianopolis / Marcianople – Devnya, Bulgaria

The amphitheater of the Ancient Roman and Early Byzantine city of Marcianopolis (Marcianople) in Bulgaria’s Devnya was excavated in 1958-1961 by archaeologist Goranka Toncheva from the Varna Museum of Archaeology. The foundations of the amphitheater have been preserved but it has not been fully researched. It covers an area of about 4,000 square meters, and is 65 meters long and 58 meters wide. It had 12 rows of seats, 14 sections, and two arched entrances. During the excavations, the archaeologists found part of a limestone block similar to the material that the amphitheater seats were made of bearing an inscription in Ancient Greek with the name “Alexander”. It has been speculated that was a rich resident of Marcianople who purchased the right to reserve the respective seat.