Chances to visit the animal pit of the Cartagena Roman Amphitheatre in March

The fossa bestiaria was used to release wild animals and gladiators into the main arena 2,000 years ago

The excavations of the Roman amphitheatre which are ongoing in Cartagena are to be open to the public at weekends during March 2026, enabling visitors to see the “fossa bestiaria”, a tunnel from which wild animals and gladiators would emerge to do combat in the main arena.

This opportunity is expected to generate widespread interest and the Town Hall will be setting up a booking system on the municipal website – those successful in registering will then check in at a kiosk on site, although it is hoped that by this autumn a more permanent building will exist to attend to members of the public.

The fossa bestiaria which has been unearthed far exceeds the archaeologists’ initial expectations. A stretch of 18 metres has now been revealed and it seems likely that in total it was 60m long. Two metres deep, this tunnel was used to keep wild animals in cages until they were released into the arena, and sometimes the same area was used by gladiators to enhance the drama of their entrance into the amphitheatre.

Meanwhile, architect Andrés Cánovas believes that by this time next year around half of the amphiteatre will have been excavated and two thirds of the structure of the old bull ring will have been consolidated.

Image: Felipe G. Pagán (Ayuntamiento de Cartagena)