ST3390 : Caerleon - Amphitheatre - Roman stone & brickwork
taken 8 years ago, near to Caerleon, Newport/Casnewydd, Wales
Caerleon was the Roman fortress town of Isca, founded originally in AD74 with the Second Augustan Legion remaining here until the third century, after which its decline began.
There are numerous fascinating Roman remains in the small Welsh town situated just to the north of the city of Newport. As inevitably always happened with such sites, over the following centuries much of the stone was plundered - or "quarried" - for use in newer structures, but fortunately at Caerleon a considerable amount has survived. The barracks in particular are rare being the only complete Roman barrack in Europe open to the public.
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The four main places of interest are:
The Baths
The Amphitheatre and Fortress walls
The Barracks
The Museum
Entry to all these remains is free of charge; they are looked after by CADW - see
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The Baths
The Baths are situated in the centre of the town with a small car park conveniently adjacent to them. They are more of a Roman leisure centre than simply baths as they contain a frigidarium (cold plunge pool), tepidarium (warm room a little like a sauna), caldarium (hot plunge pool) and natatio (swimming pool).
Clever audiovisual displays at the remains bring the place to life - in particular the swimming pool with its projected water and swimmers.
see Link
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The Amphitheatre
In a field to the west of the town is the remains of a large amphitheatre situated just outside the ancient fortress walls, traces of which also survive.
Nowadays the amphitheatre appears as a large circular feature with raised banks and Roman stone and brickwork. There are regular gates or entrances spaced around the perimeter. The former seating area is now grass banks.
At one time it was thought to be the site of King Arthur's famed Round Table.
see Link
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The Barracks
A little way north of the amphitheatre, also on the western side of the town are the considerable remains of Roman barracks where soldiers of the Second Augustan Legion would have been billeted. There were originally three blocks of barracks. The remaining foundation walls make it easy to work out the layout of the site. Eight soldiers shared a room for sleeping with an adjacent room for storing their equipment.
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The Museum contains hundreds of artefacts such as pottery, stonework, grave-stones and tools etc. from the Roman era.
They are housed in a suitably impressive little building on the junction of the High Street and Museum Street.
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See also Link Link and Link