Arènes de Montmartre

The Arènes de Montmartre appear as a sunken, grass-covered amphitheater tucked away from the steep climb of the neighborhood streets. Despite the name, these were never Roman ruins. They were built in nineteen forty-one by a local theater enthusiast named Pierre de Ronsard. He cleared a dumping ground to create a venue for open-air plays during the German occupation. Actors performed classics here while the city faced the pressures of war, creating a fragile pocket of performance in a troubled time.