Faesulae (Fiesole)

FAESULAE (Fiesole), ancient Regio VII, modern Italy.

COORDINATES: 43º48’27.98’’N // 11º17’37.39’’E

TIPOLOGY: Roman theatre. Urban.
DATE: Last I B.C or first I A.D.
TRANSFORMATIONS: It has been hardly restored in modern times.
CAPACITY: 3.000 spectators.

CAVEA: Facing north-east. 67 m. diameter. Built west side on natural hill. Only one maeniana with 23 rows of seats in 4 cunei and 5 scalaria. Foundations of porticus in summa cavea.

ORCHESTRA: 22,1 m. diameter. Paved in colour marble. Bisellia with four steps.

STAGE BUILDING: Hyposcaenium remains. Proscaenium with one curved and four rectangular niches. Pulpitum is 43,7 x 8,9 m. Sacenae frons has to columnatio storeys, regia door in curved niches, hospitalia in curved ones.

LOCATION: Close to a roman bath complex. The theatre is north of modern Fiesole, 5 klm. north-east from Firenze.

MY BEDSIDE TABLE: 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. // 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: Firenze is a magical city, it hides infinite treasures and a sense that is far away from time, between fact and fiction... a secret, well not so much as a secret... there´s a wonderful treasure outside Firenze, 5 klm. north, up the hill... only a Roman theatre, only a quiet corner, just a quirk of time.