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The ruins / remains of <a href="http://www.arles-guide.com/arles_tourism/arles_monuments/arles_roman_theater" rel="noreferrer nofollow">The Roman Theatre</a> in Arles.

In recent years they have added new stone seating to it.

Various events are held here.

Arles Roman Theater (Théâtre Antique d'Arles in French) was built in the time of Augustus and, with seating for 8,000 on 33 tiers of steps, was as large as the theater in Orange. In the early Middle Ages the theater was used as a quarry, and with the material it provided the town wall was erected. Of the rear wall of the stage only a few stumps of pillars and two more or less complete columns remain. Since the theater is now used again during the summer it is protected on the outside by screens and the interior is somewhat spoiled by the necessary technical apparatus.

Most of the relics brought to light during excavation can be seen in the Arles Museum of Antiquity - the most important of these is the "Venus of Arles", a representation of the goddess Diana, which was discovered near a fountain in 1651 and is now in the Louvre in Paris.

The Roman Theater has been listed as World Heritage Sites since 1981.

Arles Roman Theater is now a monument to visit and a place of concerts and events like during the "Rencontres d'Arles".

The theatre stands at the top of a hill. The semicircle of tiers in 103 m long in its widest axis and faces west.

It is the oldest monument in the town having been started under the reign of Augustus and finished under Antony. It has suffered a great deal over the years.

The building was originally surrounded by three rows of arches which only one section still remains, called Rolland's tower.

The tiers formed thirty-three vaults backing against the surrounding wall. The stage area was paved with pink breccia stone and the part where the former chorus stood still partly remains.

The stage backed against a large wall richly decorated with statues , alcoves and friezes enclosing the semicircle. Only two very beautiful columns surmounted by a fragment of the fronton are still standing.