Inside the Arena di Verona, Host of the 2026 Olympics Closing Ceremony

As fans prepare for the close of the 2026 Milan Cortina Winter Games, the Closing Ceremony will be staged in Verona at the ancient Arena di Verona, a UNESCO World Heritage Site now renamed the Verona Olympic Arena. Built in 30 AD as a Roman amphitheatre and once the third largest after the Colosseum and the Campania Amphitheatre, the venue follows two Opening Ceremonies held in Milan and Cortina.

Originally used for gladiatorial contests and public ceremonies, the Arena di Verona later became a center for opera during the Renaissance and secured its modern cultural role in the early 1900s after performances were popularized by tenor Giovanni Zenatello. Nightly light displays and a history of events from Tina Turner concerts to Giro d’Italia races have kept the venue at the heart of Verona’s landscape.

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