Lato (Gulas)

LATO (Gulas), ancient Cyrenaica, modern Creta, Grece.

COORDINATES: 35º10’42.77’’N // 25º39’20.31’’E

TIPOLOGY: Theatron. Archaic cult Greek theatre. Urban

DATE: End IV B.C.

TRANSFORMATIONS:

CAPACITY: 180 spectators.

CAVEA: Facing South. Rectilinear. Theatron is 8 m. long. One maeniana with 10 rows of seats in 3 cunei. The structure has two missions, being a theatron and steps for reaching the upper city.

ORCHESTRA:

STAGE BUILDING:

LOCATION: Ancient Lato is 10 klm south-west from modern Aghios Nikolaos.

MY BEDSIDE TABLE: Nielsen, Inge. “Cultic theatre and ritual drama”. Aarhus, Aarhus University Press, 2002. // Anti, Carlo. “Teatri greci arcaici”. Roma, L’Erma di Bretschneider, 1947. // 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: Lato has two rectilinear theatron. These one is in the agora, looking to prytaneion, the other one is in the south.

Harpasa (Esenköy)

HARPASA (Esenköy), ancient Caria / Asia Minor, modern Turkey.

COORDINATES: About 37º46’12.56’’N / 28º21’03.79’’E

TIPOLOGY: Greek theatre. Not urban.

DATE: End of II B.C.

TRANSFORMATIONS:

CAPACITY: 2.500 spectators.

CAVEA: Facing north-west.  58 m. diameter. Built against slope. It had about 30 rows of seats but only 8 are visible divided in 6 cunei. Upper rows of seat were rectilinear.

ORCHESTRA:

STAGE BUILDING:

LOCATION: It´s little below ancient Acropolis, in the hill close to modern Esenköy, 12 klm. south from modern Nazilli.

MY BEDSIDE TABLE: Yilmaz, Yasar; “Anadolu Antik Tiyatrolari”. Istanbul, Yem Yanin, 2010. // Sear, Frank; “Roman theatres: an architectural study”. Oxford University Press, 2006.

OUT OF PRINT: The day I visited Harpasa´s ancient theatre was a great exciting day for me. I proposed that day to visit three ancient theatres of which I never had been any picture and did not exactly where they were: Harpasa, Orthosa and Bargasa, so it was going to be a rainy day full of unknowns and adventure.  I started very early the day looking for Harpasa´s one, it was not difficult to find it, only an extended walk by the hill in Esenköy. After I drove to Donduran for find Orthosa´s Greek theater, that was quite difficult to find and I will tell when I do Orthosa´s review, I only will tell the wonderful experience drinking tea in Donduran’s cantina before being hours looking in the field for the little theatre remains; In the evening I drove to Haydere for finding Bargasa´s ancient theatre, I found the ancient city, spending hours, but I did not find the theatre although, like I could see in Yasar Yilmaz book, “Anadolu Antik Tiyatrolari”, I were walking on it, in the deep wood... anyway, another of the million reasons for returning to Turkey.

Thebae Phthiotides (Mikrothives)

THEBAE PHTHIOTIDES (Mikrothives), ancient Thessaly, modern Greece.

COORDINATES: 39º16’18.23’’N // 22º45’59.07’’E

TIPOLOGY: Greek theatre. Urban.

TRANSFORMATIONS:

CAPACITY:

CAVEA: Facing east. About 32 m. diameter. 11 rows of seats visible, in 7? cunei.Parts of outer wall are visible.

ORCHESTRA: About 10 m. diameter.

STAGE BUILDING: Parts of the stage building are visible, have been excavated and protected with a roof.

LOCATION: The ancient greek theate is 1,5 klm. north-east from modern Mikrothives, 20 klm. south-west from Volos.

MY BEDSIDE TABLE:

OUT OF PRINT: Always, when you leave the travel takes your steeps, it will rewarded you with the biggest surprise. I knew that there were notices about an ancient theatre in a place called Thebae Phthiotides, but I did not know well the place it was and thought it was not excavated yet, so I supposed it was only a literary notice. When I was driving from Demetrias ancient theatre, near Volos, to Delphi, I suddenly see, like a miracle, a sign on a dirt road adjacent to the main road that said “to the ancient theatre”...!!!! Oh my Gods , you put that sign for me... I take that road, left  the car and started very excited to the theatre place... sometimes the journey hides unimaginable secrets!!!!

Bracara Augusta (Braga)

BRACARA AUGUSTA (Braga), ancient Tarraconensis, modern Portugal.

COORDINATES: 41º32’48.03’’N // 8º25’48.79’’W

TIPOLOGY: Roman theatre. Urban.

DATE: II A.D.

TRANSFORMATIONS:

CAPACITY:

CAVEA: Facing West. 68,6 m. diameter. Partially rest on natural slope. It had a porticus in summa cavea -3 m. wide-

ORCHESTRA: Balteus remains, aditus too -2,4m. wide-

STAGE BUILDING: Pulpitum was 1,4 m. high and 6,7 m. wide. Scaenae frons visible remains.

LOCATION: The theatre is west of modern city.

MY BEDSIDE TABLE: Martins, Manuela; Ribeiro, Jorge; Magalhâes, Fernanda; “A arqueologia urbana em Braga e a descoberta do teatro romano de Bracara Augusta”. Universidad do Minho, Forum nº 40, 2006.

OUT OF PRINT: A marvelous memory, a slow walk in Braga and Guimaraes, with sweet words, bacalao a brâs and albariños´s wine... close to the land were in roman times there was the land´s end.

Cassope (Kamarina)

CASSOPE (Kamarina), ancient Epiro, modern Greece.

COORDINATES: 39º08’48.28’’N // 20º40’18.90’’E

TIPOLOGY: Greek theatre. Urban.

DATE: First III B.C.

TRANSFORMATIONS:

CAPACITY: 6.000 spectators.

CAVEA: 81 m. diameter. Facing south east. Rest on natural slope. Two maeniana; ima cavea with 23 rows of seats in 10 cunei; summa with 12 rows in 10 cunei.

ORCHESTRA: Horse shape. 18 m. diameter.

STAGE BUILDING: 8 m. depth.

LOCATION: In the north-west of the ancient city. 2 klm. north from modern Kamarina, 45 klm. west from Arta.

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.

OUT OF PRINT: “In the beginning the light and the first hour in which the lips, still in the mud, taste the things of the world”... words by Odysseas Elytis, a Greek poet; in the begining of the day I found the big one theatre of Cassope.