What is there today
Sopron’s oldest town wall, the central one of the three medieval rings, was built by the inhabitants of Scarbantia at the end of the 3rd century or the beginning of the 4th, and it can be seen in the Castle Wall Garden behind the Museum Quarter on the main square (the operator). In the Fire Tower’s basement the museum’s exhibition “Time Gate” tells the town’s history through carved stones from the 1st to the 16th century, featuring, in the museum’s words, “the Amber Road leading out of the Roman Scarbantia”, Roman altars and fragments of tombstones (the operator). Excavated Roman walls are also shown in the old town with information boards (the photographs).
The amphitheatre
The amphitheatre lies about 1 km north of the town point, and dates to the later 1st century AD (Pleiades). Today it is a broad oval hollow in a grassy bank, with an information board, and OpenStreetMap maps the ruins of a shrine of Nemesis beside it. Free car parks are mapped about 120 to 150 m away (OpenStreetMap).
Is it worth the trip?
If you are in Sopron, yes, as part of a walk round the old town: the Roman wall is free to see, the Time Gate costs little, and the amphitheatre is an easy detour. None of it is a major ruin, so it is not a reason to travel to Sopron on its own; combine it with the Fertőrákos mithraeum, about 10 km away, which has its own page.
Getting there
The Castle Wall Garden and the Fire Tower are at the Museum Quarter, Fő tér 6–8, in the centre of Sopron, in Győr-Moson-Sopron County. The garden is open all year and free; the Museum Quarter is open Tuesday to Sunday, 10.00 to 18.00, with the last ticket at 17.00, and the Time Gate costs 800 HUF, about €2.20, or 400 HUF reduced (sopronimuzeum.hu, read 4 October 2026). No operator publishes hours or a ticket for the amphitheatre.
Visiting details
- Opening hours
- Castle Wall Garden with the Roman town wall - open all year. Museum Quarter (Fő tér 6–8), including the Time Gate exhibition - Tuesday to Sunday 10.00–18.00, last ticket 17.00.
- Tickets
- Castle Wall Garden free. Time Gate exhibition 800 HUF (about €2.20), reduced 400 HUF (about €1.10). Amphitheatre open ground, no charge recorded.
- Parking
- Free car parks about 120–150 m from the amphitheatre (OpenStreetMap).
Hours and prices checked 4 October 2026 on the operator's own site. Confirm before travelling.
History
Scarbantia was a Roman town, a municipium, on the site of today’s Sopron in the west of Pannonia (hu.wikipedia; de.wikipedia). It stood on the Amber Road (the operator), its amphitheatre was built in the later 1st century AD (Pleiades), and at the end of the 3rd century or the beginning of the 4th its inhabitants built the wall that still forms the core of Sopron’s town walls (the operator).
More photographs
Nearby
Photo: Wolfgang glock · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Commons
8 km · temple · Győr-Moson-Sopron County
Fertőrákos mithraeum
The temple follows the usual plan of a mithraeum, an entrance hall and then the sanctuary proper, a sunken central aisle with benches along each side (en.wikipedia).
Straight-line distances.
Sources
Every fact on this page comes from the records below, each used under the licence noted.
| Source | Licence |
|---|---|
| Pleiades 197501 | CC BY |
| Wikidata Q12902033 | CC0 |
| Pleiades — Roman amphitheater at Sopron | licence not recorded |
| Wikidata — Scarbantia amphitheatre (Q28973943) | licence not recorded |
| Wikipedia (de) — Scarbantia | CC BY-SA 4.0 |
| Wikipedia (hu) — Scarbantia | CC BY-SA 4.0 |
| Soproni Múzeum — Castle Wall Garden (the operator) | licence not recorded |
| Soproni Múzeum — Time Gate | licence not recorded |
| Soproni Múzeum — opening hours | licence not recorded |