Pollentia (Alcudia)

POLLENTIA (Alcudia), ancient Hispania Tarraconensis, modern Spain.

COORDINATES: 39º50’50.54” N // 3º07’34.62” E

TIPOLOGY : Roman theatre. Urban?

DATE:  I A.D. (maybe Julio-Claudian)

TRANSFORMATIONS:

CAPACITY: 650 - 800 spectators.

CAVEA: Facing south. Cut in the rock. 31 m. diameter survives but it was bigger. maenianum. Ima cavea: 10 rows of seats in 4 cunei (extreme two are a little bigger than the two of the middle). Summa cavea: maybe it was built on wood, there are some holes that make that hypothesis.

ORCHESTRA: 16 m. diameter, surronded by bisellia (three rows).

STAGE BUILDING: There are foundation remains and some holes maybe for aulaeum.

LOCATION: 600 m. south of town, in archeological park close to Alcudia, in the north-east of Mallorca island.

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. // “Jornadas sobre teatros romanos en Hispania” Córdoba, 2006.

OUT OF PRINT: I visited Pollentia´s ancient theatre one morning, I had the feeling of being in a private garden, that´s because Alcudia´s archeological park is an old private fields. I imagined in the stone remains ancient actors giving life to that poor skeleton. With Pollentia I lived something that I haven´t in anorther ancient theatres, after I visited it in october 2008 I had to act, the same day, but not in it, in fact  in the “Teatro Municipal” in Palma de Mallorca city, 50 klm. far. Before going out to stage I remembered to have thought that if in 2.000 years somebody will feel a curiosity for the remains of “Teatro Municipal” like I I had that morning, visiting the ancient Pollentia´s Roman theatre... easy to explain... syntetic foam seats are not the same that  stone rows of seats... nobody will imagine me in 2.000 years.