The Silence Stages

Since 2005 I have been visiting more than 430 ancient greek and roman theatres around 18 countries, taking photographs and information. These blog is dedicated to all that experience.



Desde 2005 he visitado más de 430 teatros y odeones, griegos y romanos en 18 países, tomando fotografías y recopilando información. Este blog está dedicado a toda esta experiencia.



Wednesday 7 September 2011

Vienna (Vienne)

VIENNA (Vienne), ancient Gallia Narbonensis, modern France.

COORDINATES: 45º31’29.51’’N // 4º52’43.41’’E.
TIPOLOGY: Roman theatre. Urban.
DATE: Last I B.C. or first I A.D.
TRANSFORMATIONS: Proscaenium was built in II A.D.
CAPACITY: 10.000 spectators.
CAVEA: Facing west – northwest. 130,4 m. diameter. Buily against hillside, all the cavea was accessible from vomotoria and annular passage system. Maenianum: Ima cavea with 12 rows of seats in 4 cunei; Media cavea with 21 rows in 10 cunei; Summa cavea with 10 rows in 10 cunei, top of it there is an ambulatory. In the middle of the porticus in summa cavea there was a small temple.
ORCHESTRA: 34,7 m. diameter including bisellia –four steps-. Paved in different colors marble.
STAGE BUILDING: Proscaenium -1,33 m. high- with 4 rectangular –two big and two small- rectangular niches and 3 curved; it has remained part of the decoration (lion, satyr heads...). There are aulaeum remains. Pulpitum 72 x 11,3 m. In scaenae frons the regia door is in a large niche with curved sides.
LOCATION: The theatre was built using the natural slope of Colline de Pipet.
MY BEDSIDE TABLE: Sear, Frank; “Roman theatres: an architectural study”. Oxford University Press, 2006. // Ciancio Rossetto, Paola; Giuseppina Pisani Sartorio (eds); “Teatri Greci e Romani: alle origini del linguaggio rappresentato”. Rome: SEAT, 1995. // Grenier, Albert; “Manuel d’archeologie Gallo-Romain”. Paris, Éditions A. Et J. Picard, 1958. // Landes, Christian (Ed.); “Le gout du theatre a Rome et en Gaule romaine”.


OUT OF PRINT: The Roman theatre in Vienna is a fest for the eyes... the colorful marble orchestra, the stunning decorative figures from proscaenium, the inmensity of the cavea... but there is something more extraordinary, when I viewed the cavea from the top of the seats I had a long lost feeling, overwhelming... the same feeling I had when I was a boy, the same feeling I had when I went to football matches at the Santiago Bernabeu,.. an emotional vertigo.

No comments:

Post a Comment