The amphitheater is located just outside the fortress wall of the city right on the seashore. It was built in the 2nd century BC. The place for the construction of the amphitheater was chosen in a special way, it was located near the imperial road Via Augusta and next to the shore, to which animals were brought for performances.

The amphitheater accommodated about 14,000 spectators, the dimensions of its arena base are 109 meters along the axis from east to west and 86 meters from north to south.

In the VI century. on the ruins of the amphitheater, a Visigothic church was built, and later, in the 12th century, a Romanesque church of the Miraculous St. Mary was built on this site.

The Roman amphitheater in Tarragona contains the most valuable evidence of antiquity - the inscription of the emperor Heliogabalus (221), carved on the arena fence. It is the largest known monumental Roman inscription.