The Colosseum of El Djem is the third largest Colosseum in the world, only surpassed by the ones in Rome and Capua (ruined).
It was capable of seating 35,000 spectators (50,000 in Rome).
Until the 17th century it remained more or less whole. From then on its stones were used for building the nearby village of El Djem and transported to the Great Mosque in Kairouan, and at a tense moment during struggles with the Ottomans, the Turks used cannons to flush rebels out of the amphitheatre.
The ruins of the amphitheatre were declared a World Heritage Site in 1979.
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