Volterrae (Volterra)

VOLTERRAE (Volterra), ancient Etruria, modern Italy.

COORDINATES: 43º24'12.38"N // 10º51'36.16" E
TIPOLOGY : Roman theatre. Urban.

DATE: Late I B.C or first I A.D. (Augustan)

TRANSFORMATIONS: In II A.D. decoration of scaenae frons and some transformations for amphitheatre games.

CAPACITY: 3.500 spectators.

CAVEA: Partially rest on natural slope but summa cavea on sub-structures. Facing north-west. 63 m. diameter. Maenianum: Ima cavea: 5 cunei and 10 steps; Media: 10 cunei and 9 steps; Summa cavea: five or six steps.

ORCHESTRA: 18 m.diameter, paved in coloured marble slabs.

STAGE BUILDING: Scaena frons with two –storey columnatio, 16 m. high. Regia door in a very big central exedra.

LOCATION: Within Roman walls.

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. // Tosi, Giovana; “Gli edificio per spettacoli nell’Italia romana”. Roma, Quasar, 2003. // Courtois, Catherine; “Le bâtiment de scène des théâtres d’Italie et de Sicile”. Providence, Louvain-la.Neuve, 1989.

OUT OF PRINT: If I could choose the roof of my house, without hesitation I would choose that view, Volterra´s ancient theatre. That would be the place for coffe time, with the shadows of the close trees, with the rest of the extended look, in that special roman and medieval town.