Mavaniola (Monasterio di Galeata)

MAVANIOLA (Monasterio di Galeata), ancient Regio VI Umbria, modern Italy.

COORDINATES: 43º59’20.85’’N // 11º54’11.80’’E

TIPOLOGY: Greco-Roman theatre. Urban.
DATE: Half I B.C.
TRANSFORMATIONS:
CAPACITY: 800 spectators.
CAVEA: Facing sout-west. There are remains of three brick rows. It seems that the rest of the cavea was built in wood. 25 m. diameter.
ORCHESTRA: 8,5 m. diameter.
STAGE BUILDING: 14 m. long. Pulpitum has trapezoidal form.
LOCATION: Close to the forum. 1,2 klm. southwest from modern Galeata. About 80 klm. west from Rimini.

MY BEDSIDE TABLE: Tosi, Giovana; “Gli edificio per spettacoli nell’Italia romana”. Roma, Quasar, 2003 // 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.

 

OUT OF PRINT: Sometimes there are places in which there is not too much remains, but they have a great charm. it´s truth, one have to imagine Mevaniola´s ancient theatre, and it´s also truth that one can imagine a spectacular barbecue here, or drinking lemonade enjoying a book seating in the rows of these lost garden. A charming place, anyway... that we do not have to imagine it.

Sikyon (Kiato)

SIKYON (Kiato), ancient Corinth / Argolis/ Achaea, modern Greece.

COORDINATES: 37º59’02.97’’N // 22º42’40.88’’E

TIPOLOGY: Greek theatre. Urban.
DATE: First half III B.C.
TRANSFORMATIONS: Last I B.C. or first I A.D. the scene building was rebuilt.
CAPACITY: 7.000 ? spectators.

CAVEA: 125 m. diameter. Facing north-east. Nine rows of seats survives in ima cavea but the total number of rows was about 60, most of which were cut from the rock..

ORCHESTRA: 24,3 m. diameter. In proedria there are honor seats.
STAGE BUILDING: Proscaenium was 3,25 m. high; the Hellenistic stage 23,7 x 3 m. but was transformed in roman times. Stage building was 24,5x 12,1 m.
LOCATION: Ancient Sikyon is about 4 klm. from modern Kiato, and about 17 klm. north-west from Corinth.

MY BEDSIDE TABLE: Lange, Judith; Bosnakis, Dimitris; “Ancient theatres”. Athens, Itanos, 1996. // Maximos, Platon; “Ancient Hellenic theatres”. Athens, 1998. // Maximos, Platon; “Fair competition: ancient stadia – ancient theatres”, Athens,  , 2004. // Mee, Christopher; Spawforth, Anthony; “Greece. Oxford archeological guides”. Oxford University Press, 2001. // Arias, Paolo Enrico; “Il teatro greco fuori di Atene”. Firenze, G.C. Sansoni, 1934. // Cailler, Pierre; Cailler, Diky; Bettex, Ivan; “Les Théatres gréco-romains de Grèce”. Laussane. Style. 1966. // 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.

OUT OF PRINT: Sikyon has always broke my breath. In two ways. First, it was one of those theatres I always wanted to visit. The other reason... there is a film by Akira Kourosawa in which the Japanese director show us seven dreams that he had in his life, in one of them a group of polar expeditionary are in the meddle of a storm, they can hardly walk, by effects of cold and fatigue, their slowness is extreme, and the interpretation and the film is so good that me, like spectator, when I saw the film I started to have trouble with my breath... that what I felt in Sikyon´s ancient theatre, problems to breath, a mixture of pleasure and fatigue... not good to visit a greek theatre with forty degrees, at two in the afternoon, in July...

Petra (Petra)

PETRA (Petra), ancient Arabia, modern Jordan.

COORDINATES: 30º19’30.02’’N / 35º26’49.52’’E

TIPOLOGY: Roman theatre (with Nabatean style).
DATE: Last I B.C. or first I A.D.
TRANSFORMATIONS: Half I A.D. and first half of II.
CAPACITY: 6.800 spectators.
CAVEA: Facing Nort-east. 95 m. diameter. Maenianum: Ima cavea has 10 rows of seats in 6 cunei; Media cavea 25 rows; Summa cavea with 14 rows. Media and summa are not perfect semicircles and do not have perfect and clear division. It´s carved on rock.
ORCHESTRA: 24,6 m. diameter.
STAGE BUILDING: Pulpitum is 50 x 6,8 m. Columnatio had two orders and was 13,8 m. high. It´s supposed to have been another level because the cavea is higher.
LOCATION: Between “the Treasury” and the “Royal Tombs”.
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. / Lankester Harding, G.; “The antiquities of Jordan”. Jordan Distribution Agency, 1984.

OUT OF PRINT: First day I saw Petra´s Nabatean theater I was paralyzed for two times. The first one for its undeniable beauty, at dawn, turning the sun the stairs in red, that red of Petra that is unique and fascinating. The second time, in the afternoon, I was paralyzed for about half an hour; I had climbed some of the graves, in order to reach the top of the theater, without measuring the risk. When I realized I had gotten into a ridge from which it was difficult to escape ... I panicked and I was still that half hour trying to stay calm and fighting with the vertigo that had gripped me. I had two options, first one to scream to the people that was down, like little ants, and shouting for help and "rescue"... I chose the second, not without some degree of recklessness , to left the risk shaking on my own, playing stupidly with my life, for shame... but happy for having taken a little silence to the high of that absolutely wonderful red theatre.

Eretria (Eretria)

ERETRIA (Eretria, Eubea island), ancient Euboea / Achaea, modern Greece.

COORDINATES: 38º23’54.93’’N // 23º47’26.48’’E

TIPOLOGY: Greek theatre.
DATE: First half V B.C.
TRANSFORMATIONS: First cavea was rebuilt in last IV B.C. Scene building rebuilt in last II B.C.
CAPACITY: 6.300 spectators.
CAVEA: Facing south. 91 m. diameter. It had 25 row of seats but only 8 are preserved, divided in 11 cunei.
ORCHESTRA: 22 m. diameter. There are a Charonian corridor from under the stage to the meddle of the orchestra, it was used for special appearances in the middle of the play, including appearances of characters from the underworld.
STAGE BUILDING: The stage was 19,8 x 2,7 m. It survives remains of early scene building,  that was divided in five rooms. The scene wall in the second period was 25,6 m. long. In third period the old parascaenia was removed and a new scene building was built.
LOCATION: Eretria´s ancient theatre is close to modern Eretria, in Eubea 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. // Bieber, Margarete. “The History of The Greek and Roman Theatre”. Princeton University Press, 1961. // Neppi Modona, Aldo. “Gli edificio teatrali greci e romani”. Firenze, Leo S. Olschki, 1961. // Lange, Judith; Bosnakis, Dimitris; “Ancient theatres”. Athens, Itanos, 1996. // Maximos, Platon; “Ancient Hellenic theatres”. Athens, 1998. // Maximos, Platon; “Fair competition: ancient stadia – ancient theatres”, Athens,  , 2004. // Arias, Paolo Enrico; “Il teatro greco fuori di Atene”. Firenze, G.C. Sansoni, 1934.

OUT OF PRINT: Dawning. In the slow summer. A cock hoarse and the wild yellow grass, sleepy, fluffy, inviting to a dream that was not yet possible. An elderly woman carrying some vegetables. Some workers with the first cigarette of the day. Eretria stretches in front of this languid colossus, its theatre, to whom I nail my knees