Roman Theatre of Aspendos

Last updated
Roman Theatre of Aspendos
Aspendos Amphitheatre.jpg
View of the Roman Theatre of Aspendos in 2011
Turkey adm location map.svg
Archaeological site icon (red).svg
Shown within Turkey
Location Aspendos, Turkey
Coordinates 36°56′20″N31°10′20″E / 36.93889°N 31.17222°E / 36.93889; 31.17222
Type Roman theatre
Width96 metres (315 ft)
History
BuilderZenon
Founded161 a.D - 180 a.D
AbandonedNo
Periods Ancient Rome
Cultures Roman
Site notes
ConditionAlmost intact
Public accessYes

The Roman theater of Aspendos is a Roman theater in the ancient city of Aspendos in Turkey. It was built in the 2nd century and is one of the best preserved ancient theaters of the Greco-Roman world. [1]

Contents

Description

With a diameter of 96 metres (315 ft), the theatre provided seating for 7,000/13,000 people. The theatre was built in 155 AD by the Greek architect Zenon, a native of the city, during the rule of Marcus Aurelius. It was periodically repaired by the Seljuks, who used it as a caravansary, and in the 13th century the stage building was converted into a palace by the Seljuks of Rum. Technically the structure is a theatre not an amphitheatre, the latter being fully round or oval shaped.

History

The theater was built during the reign of Marcus Aurelius (161-180). An inscription lists the brothers Curtius Crispinus and Curtius Auspicatus as commissioners and Zenon as architect. The cavea is partly built against theslope of the hill, which provides a natural foundation. The rest of the stand rests on stone arcades. The cavea has 41 rows of benches, providing seating for 12,000 spectators. The stage wall is completely intact, only the original eight-meter-deep wooden ceiling has disappeared. Around the theater, 58 holes have been found where there used to be poles, which could be used to stretch a large velarium over the grandstand to protect the spectators from the sun. [2]

In the 13th century, the stage building was converted into a palace for the Seljuks.

In modern times, the theater has been restored to its original state. It is an important tourist attraction for the region. In spring and summer, opera and ballet performances are held there.

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Aspendos</span> Ancient Greco-Roman city

Aspendos or Aspendus was an ancient Greco-Roman city in Antalya province of Turkey. The site is located 40 km east of the modern city of Antalya.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Roman theatre (structure)</span> Theatre building built in ancient Roman times

Roman theatres derive from and are part of the overall evolution of earlier Greek theatres. Much of the architectural influence on the Romans came from the Greeks, and theatre structural design was no different from other buildings. However, Roman theatres have specific differences, such as generally being built upon their own foundations instead of earthen works or a hillside and being completely enclosed on all sides.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Theatre of Dionysus</span> Ancient Greek theatre near the Athens Acropolis, Greece

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Theatre of Pompey</span> Theatre in Ancient Rome

The Theatre (UK) or Theater (US) of Pompey, also known by other names, was a structure in Ancient Rome built during the latter part of the Roman Republican era by Pompey the Great. Completed in 55 BC, it was the first permanent theatre to be built in Rome. Its ruins are located at Largo di Torre Argentina.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Theatre of Marcellus</span> Ancient Roman theatre, a landmark of Rome, Italy

The Theatre of Marcellus is an ancient open-air theatre in Rome, Italy, built in the closing years of the Roman Republic. At the theatre, locals and visitors alike were able to watch performances of drama and song. Today its ancient edifice in the rione of Sant'Angelo, Rome, once again provides one of the city's many popular spectacles or tourist sites.

Tavium, or Tavia, was the chief city of the Galatian tribe of Trocmi, one of the three Celtic tribes which migrated from the Danube Valley to Galatia in present-day central Turkey in the 3rd century BCE. Owing to its position on the high roads of commerce was an important trading post. The site was successively occupied by Hittites, Cimmerians, Persians, Celts, Greeks, Romans, Seljuk Turks and Ottoman Turks. At the time of the Roman Empire, Tavium was an important crossroads and a stopping place on the caravan routes.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Roman theatre of Philippopolis</span> Roman theatre in Plovdiv, Bulgaria

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Prusias ad Hypium</span> Ruined city located in Düzce Province, Turkey

Prusias ad Hypium was a city in ancient Bithynia, and afterwards in the late Roman province of Honorias. In the 4th century it became a bishopric that was a suffragan of Claudiopolis in Honoriade. Before its conquest by King Prusias I of Bithynia, it was named Cierus or Kieros and belonged to the Heraclea Pontica. Photius writes that it was called Kieros, after the river which flows by it.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Eurymedon Bridge (Aspendos)</span> Bridge in Pamphylia, Anatolia

The Eurymedon Bridge was a late Roman bridge over the river Eurymedon, near Aspendos, in Pamphylia in southern Anatolia. The foundations and other stone blocks (spolia) of the Roman structure were used by the Seljuqs to build a replacement bridge in the 13th century, the Köprüpazar Köprüsü, which stands to this day. This bridge is characterized by a significant displacement along its mid-line, noticeable by looking at its ancient piers.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Roman amphitheatre</span> Ancient Roman open-air venues

Roman amphitheatres are theatres — large, circular or oval open-air venues with raised seating — built by the ancient Romans. They were used for events such as gladiator combats, venationes and executions. About 230 Roman amphitheatres have been found across the area of the Roman Empire. Early amphitheatres date from the Republican period, though they became more monumental during the Imperial era.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Roman Theatre (Mérida)</span>

The Roman Theatre of Mérida is a construction promoted by the consul Vipsanius Agrippa in the Roman city of Emerita Augusta, capital of Lusitania. It was constructed in the years 16 to 15 BCE. One of the most famous and visited landmarks in Spain, the Roman Theatre of Mérida is regarded as a Spanish cultural icon and was chosen as one of the 12 Treasures of Spain.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Theatre of Clunia Sulpicia</span>

The Theatre of Clunia Sulpicia is a Roman theatre in the ancient city of Colonia Clunia Sulpicia, in what is now province of Burgos, northern Spain. Built on a hill called Alto de Castro, it is located between the modern-day villages of Coruña del Conde and Peñalba de Castro, in the south of the province of Burgos.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Roman Theatre at Apamea</span>

The Roman Theatre at Apamea is a Roman theatre in ancient Apamea in northwestern Syria. Originally a Hellenistic theatre, the monumental structure was one of the largest theatres in the Roman world.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Greek Theatre of Syracuse</span> Theatre in the city of Syracuse in Sicily, Italy

The Greek theatre of Syracuse lies on the south slopes of the Temenite hill, overlooking the modern city of Syracuse in southeastern Sicily, Italy. It was first built in the 5th century BC, rebuilt in the 3rd century BC and renovated again in the Roman period. Today, it is a part of the Unesco World Heritage Site of "Syracuse and the Rocky Necropolis of Pantalica".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Roman Theatre (Tarraco)</span> UNESCO World Heritage Site in Catalonia, Spain

The Roman theatre of Tarraco was a Roman theatre built in Tarraco in the time of Augustus in the area of the local forum and the port, the planners took advantage of the steep slope of the hill to build part of the seating.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Theatre Area of Pompeii</span> Buildings in Pompeii

The theatre area of Pompeii is located in the southwest region of the city. There are three main buildings that make up this area: the Large Theatre, the Odeon, and the Quadriporticum. These served as an entertainment and meeting centre of the city. Pompeii had two stone theatres of its own nearly two decades before the first permanent stone theatre was erected in Rome in the 50s BC.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hellenistic theatre of Dion</span>

The largest building of the Archaeological Park of Dion in northern Greece is the Hellenistic-era theatre. It is located in the south of the village of Dion, Pieria and is often used during the summer for performances of the Olympus Festival.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Teatro Berga</span>

The Teatro Berga was a Roman theatre in Vicetia, modern Vicenza, Italy. It stood in an area beyond the Retrone river, in what is now part of the historic centre of the city. Its site corresponded to buildings currently standing between Contrà Santi Apostoli, Piazzetta San Giuseppe, Contrà Porton del Luzzo, Piazzetta Gualdi, Contrà del Pozzetto and contrà Lioy. Contrà Porton del Luzzo follows the semi-circular route of the external perimeter of the south-facing cavea of the former theatre.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Roman Theater (Zaragoza)</span> Historic site in Zaragoza, Spain

The Roman Theater of Zaragoza is a theater from the Roman era, built in the first half of the 1st century AD, in the Age of Tiberius and Claudius. It had a capacity of 6,000 spectators and followed the model of the Theatre of Marcellus in Rome. It was active until the third century.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Roman Theatre of Catania</span> Roman ruins in southern Italy

The Roman Theatre of Catania consists of the ruins of two open-air semicircular ancient Roman theatres, located between Piazza San Francesco, via Vittorio Emanuele, via Timeo, and via Teatro Greco in the center of Catania, Sicily, southern Italy. The site consists of a larger theatre and a smaller semicircular theatre, an Odeon. The structure is part of the Parco archeologico greco-romano di Catania.

References

  1. Andreae, Bernard (1977). The Art of Rome. New York: H. N. Abrams. p. 567. ISBN   0-8109-0626-0. The Roman theater survives virtually intact... scarcely another surviving theater gives a better impression of just how the Roman theater - a solid single unified structure - differed from the Greek theater, which was made up of separate structures juxtaposed but each isolated and complete in itself.
  2. "Theatre in Aspendos | Turkish Archaeological News". turkisharchaeonews.net. Retrieved 2023-10-21.