Turkey: The Largest Amphitheatre We Explored

The Great Theatre at Ephesus

 

 

The Great Theatre is located on the slope of Panayir Hill, opposite the Harbour Street, the south entrance to Ephesus.  It was first constructed in the Hellenistic Period, 3rd century BC, but enlarged during the Roman period.  With a capacity of 25,000, it was certainly the largest theatre we saw.

 

The cavea has 66 rows of seats, divided by two diazoma into three horizontal sections.  In the lower section, marble pieces and the Emperor's Box were found.  The seats with backs, made of marble, were reserved for important people.  The audience entered from the upper cavea.  The stage building is three storied and 18 meters high.  The façade facing the audience was ornamented with reliefs, columns with niches, windows and statues, giving the theatre a bigger, monumental look.

 

The massive size of the theatre is more apparent when looking back north from Harbour Street.  The Ephesus Theatre was used not only for concerts and plays, but also for religious, political and philosophical discussions and for gladiator and animal fights.



Turkey: An Amphitheatre With a Huge WOW Factor

The Theatre at Hierapolis

 

Not only is the Theatre of Hierapolis a stunning sight from the ruins of the ancient city of Hierapolis, but it is also set just up the hill from one of Turkey's natural wonders, Pamukkale's "frozen waterfall," an attraction since Roman times.

 

 

The theatre at Hierapolis is a Greek style building hollowed out of the slope of the hill.  It is 91 meters high.  The theater's construction was started in 62 AD.  However, it was not completed until the Severus Era in 206 AD.  In 352, the theatre underwent a thorough restoration and was adapted for water shows.

 

There are four entrances, each with six statues in niches flanked by marble columns.  The auditorium (cavea), which seats 15,000, features an imperial box.

 

People have bathed in the pools at Pamukkale for thousands of years.  The terraces are made of travertine, a sedimentary rock deposited by water from hot springs.  There are 17 springs, from 35 degrees to 100 degrees C.  The water travels 1050 feet to the travertine terraces and deposits calcium carbonate on a section 200 to 230 feet long.  When the water, supersaturated with calcium carbonate, reaches the surface, carbon dioxide is released and calcium carbonate, deposited.  Calcium carbonate is deposited by the water as a soft jelly, but it eventually hardens into travertine.  Note some of the ruins in Hieropolis in the background of the photo above.

 

We had one last glimpse of the theatre as we left this incredible, awe-inspiring site in Turkey.



 



Turkey: A Scenic Climb to an Ancient Theatre

The Theatre of Kaunos (Caunos)

 

To get to the Theatre of Kaunos, we took a river boat from Dalyan to the site of the ancient city of Kaunos on a hill that was once surrounded by the sea on three sides.  Our climb to Kaunos rewarded us with amazing views and remarkable ruins, including those of the 5000 seat theatre.

 



 

 

The two-tiered theatre of Kaunos faces the ancient harbour to the southwest (now largely silted in) and follows Hellenistic traditions with respect to its plan. The cavea has an inclination of 27 degrees and is divided into 9 wedge-shaped kerkis by 8 stairways.  There are 17 rows of benches in each of the two levels of the theatre. 

 

The radius of the orchestra is 40 feet.  According to expert opinion, the temple of Dionysus, next to the theatre, was built in the fourth century BC.  It is thought that the theatre must have been built in the same era.

 

The circular horizontal walkway of the cavea, the diazoma, is connected to two passages covered by barrel vaults at the north and north-west.  These two passages are largely intact

 

 

In several places, we saw holes in the seating benches where wooden uprights were once placed to hold canvasses that were stretched to screen the audience from the sun.

 

 

 

Turkey: Take Your Place in a Small Theatre on the Mediterranean

The Small Theatre at Phaselis

 

 



The Phaselis theatre, just off a 24 meter-wide, ancient street that runs through the city, began as a Greek Theatre, perhaps during the time of Alexander the Great.  Later the Romans blocked the beautiful view of the Bey Mountains (a Mount Olympus stand-in) with a typical Roman superstructure behind the stage area.

 

 

Along with the theatre, on the beautiful, ancient main street of Phaselis, are the ruins of shops, baths, an aquaduct and sarcophagi.  Fragrant pine forests and the lapping of the Mediterranean add to the appeal of Phaselis.

 

 

 



Phaselis, a city with three harbours on the Mediterranean, began life as a colony of Rhodes in 690 BC.  It quickly grew to become an important trading centre and attracted the attention of the Persians, Alexander the Great, the Egyptians, the Romans and pirates, to mention a few of those who wished to control this well placed centre of commerce.  In 42 BC, Brutus had the city linked to Rome.  During the Byzantine period, the city became a bishopric, but by the 3rd century AD, its great harbours were threatened by pirates once again and suffered further losses at the hands of Arab ships.  By the 11th century, it was commercially impoverished.  But for us, it is a site with ruins that tell its ancient and rich story.



Turkey: An Amphitheatre With a Complicated History

The Theatre at Aphrodisias

 

The Hellenistic city of Aphrodisias, situated on the verge of the Meander River Valley, was named for Aphrodite, the goddess of love; although the city was inhabited as early as 2700 BC, the ruins we see today in Aphrodisias date from the third century BC and reflect the influence of Rome from the first century BC to the seventh century AD when an earthquake made it uninhabitable.  The city established itself as an artistic centre; during the Hellenistic and Roman periods, sculptures in marble from Aphrodisias became famous in the Roman world.

 

The theatre was built on the eastern slope of the city and is situated adjacent to the South Agora, or public square of the ancient city; it was ideally located for public performances, forums and blood sports.

 

 

 

The original theatre dates from the late Hellenistic period, but it was extensively renovated between 38 and 28 BC; it was dedicated to Aphrodite and to the Demos (people).  The renovation included a three-story stage building and marble prohedria (seats for wealthy and aristocratic guests) in the front row.

 

 

The theatre underwent another phase of construction sometime during the reigns of Claudius and Nero (40-68 AD).  Inscriptions from this period show that an entrance, the two parodoi (side entrances into the orchestra of the theatre), the analemmata (retaining walls) of the cavea and possibly a third set of seats above the second diazoma (horizontal walkway separating sections of cavea seating) were built.

 

In the late 2nd century AD, under Marcus Aurelius (161-180 AD), the theatre was further renovated to make the space suitable for gladiator contests.  The orchestra was expanded by removing the first two or three rows of seats and a high wall was built around the orchestra with wood or iron railings on top to protect spectators in the front rows.

 

The two covered parodoi and the central arched entrance in the skene led directly to the Agora.  When the theatre was used for political gatherings, politicians could speak to the cavea or turn around and speak to those gathered in the public square of the city.

 

 

Later, the orchestra was lowered and a water channel was dug around its edge to facilitate cleaning following fights.  The theatre continued to be used through the early Byzantine period, when chapels were built at each end of the proskenion.  The theatre collapsed in an earthquake in the 7th century and was never repaired.  The site was used as a fort during the Byzantine period; later houses were built on top of the rubble.

 

PS  If you are curious about what is meant by Hellenistic, please check Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hellenistic_period





Turkey: An Amazing Roman Theatre

The Aspendos Theatre

 

According to legend, Aspendos was founded around 1000 BC by Greeks who may have come from Argos. Situated on the then navigable Eurymedon River about 16 km from the Mediterranean Sea, Aspendos derived great wealth from a trade in salt, oil and wool and became the most important city in Pamphylia by the 5th century BC.

 

 



The Aspendos Theatre is one of the best preserved Roman theatres of the ancient world.  According to inscriptions on the southern main entrance, the theatre was constructed during the reign of Marcus Aurelius (161 - 180 AD); its architect was Zenon, an Aspendian. 

 

 

In order to honor Hellenistic traditions, a small part of the theatre was built so that it leaned against the hill where the Citadel stood, while the remainder was built on vaulted arches.  The theatre seats 7000.

 

Turkey: The Amphitheatre at the Top of the Mountain

The Amphitheatre of Termessos

 

The mountain citadel city of Termessos was one of the few cities to hold out against Alexander the Great as he swept across Asia Minor.  At the highest point in the city is a Greco-Roman theatre with spectacular views of the Pamphylian plain to both the right and to the left.

 

 

The theatre displays most clearly the features of the Roman theatre, but the theatre plan of the Hellenistic period is well preserved in the semicircular seating area, the cavea.

The cavea is divided in two by a diazoma, with eight tiers of seats above the diazoma, and sixteen below.  Between 4000 and 5000 spectators were accommodated.

 

A large arched entrance way connects the cavea with the agora (the market place).

 

Yes, it was quite a hike to Termessos.  No wonder Alexander the Great by-passed the city after two failed attempts to conquer the people of Termessos in their mountain citadel.

 



Turkey - the Steepest Amphitheatre in the Ancient World

The Hellenistic theatre at Pergamom, Turkey has the steepest seating of any theatre in the ancient world.  It is estimated to seat 10,000 people.

 



Transitions

The leaf is beautiful in its transition.  

The buck is beautiful in his transition. 

We, too, can be beautiful in our transitions.

 



The Golden Days of Fall

Sometimes red, sometimes, brown and sometimes yellow - then, as the leaves fall, I wonder at all the colors that call forth the white of winter.  Is it in the contrasts that we experience more poignantly the tensions in the "contraries" of life?