The Romans who occupied the land after ousting the Greeks a few hundred years earlier built Lecce’s ancient amphitheatre. It dates to 200AD and was unearthed during construction for a new bank in 1938. It was a massive structure, which held up to 20,000 people and stood five storeys tall; now half of it remains under coffee shops and cafes. This grand Roman structure is in the middle of Lecce and is the main find of the Roman city of Lupiae.
