The Second Ancient Theatre of Larissa ( el, Β΄ Αρχαίο Θέατρο της Λάρισας) is an

ancient Greek theatre Ancient Greek theatre was a theatrical culture that flourished in ancient Greece from 700 BC. The city-state of Athens, which became a significant cultural, political, and religious place during this period, was its centre, where the theatre wa ...

in the city of

Larissa Larissa (; el, Λάρισα, , ) is the capital and largest city of the Thessaly region in Greece. It is the fifth-most populous city in Greece with a population of 144,651 according to the 2011 census. It is also capital of the Larissa regiona ...

Thessaly Thessaly ( el, Θεσσαλία, translit=Thessalía, ; ancient Thessalian: , ) is a traditional geographic and modern administrative region of Greece, comprising most of the ancient region of the same name. Before the Greek Dark Ages, The ...

Greece Greece,, or , romanized: ', officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the southern tip of the Balkans, and is located at the crossroads of Europe, Asia, and Africa. Greece shares land borders wit ...

History

The theatre was built in the second half of the 1st century BC, on the southwestern slopes of the Pefkakia hill. Its construction is probably connected to the conversion of the city's original theatre, which was converted into an arena for

gladiatorial A gladiator ( la, gladiator, "swordsman", from , "sword") was an armed combatant who entertained audiences in the Roman Republic and Roman Empire in violent confrontations with other gladiators, wild animals, and condemned criminals. Some gla ...

contests and public spectacles after the

Roman conquest of Greece Greece in the Roman era describes the Roman conquest of Greece, as well as the period of Greek history when Greece was dominated first by the Roman Republic and then by the Roman Empire. The Roman era of Greek history began with the Corinthia ...

. The excavator of the site, Athanasios Tziafalias, suggested in particular a connection with the festival of Eleutheria, which featured athletic and horsemanship contests as well as theatrical, musical, and poetry performances. An inscription dedicated to Demeter and the

Kore Kore may refer to: Arts and entertainment * Kore (comics), a comic-book series by Josh Blaylock and Tim Seeley *Kore (producer), French-Algerian music producer, also part of duo Kore & Skalp *Kore (sculpture), a type of ancient Greek sculpture de ...

indicates that the site also housed a temple dedicated to them ('' thesmophorion''). The theatre was left in ruins in the

Middle Ages In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire ...

, when a

Byzantine The Byzantine Empire, also referred to as the Eastern Roman Empire or Byzantium, was the continuation of the Roman Empire primarily in its eastern provinces during Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, when its capital city was Constantin ...

church dedicated to the

Holy Wisdom Holy Wisdom (Greek: , la, Sancta Sapientia, russian: Святая София Премудрость Божия, translit=Svyataya Sofiya Premudrost' Bozhiya "Holy Sophia, Divine Wisdom") is a concept in Christian theology. Christian theology ...

or to Saint Paraskevi was erected in its place. The church was in turn replaced by the mosque of Hasan Bey was erected on the site during the

Ottoman period The Ottoman Empire, * ; is an archaic version. The definite article forms and were synonymous * and el, Оθωμανική Αυτοκρατορία, Othōmanikē Avtokratoria, label=none * info page on book at Martin Luther University) ...

. The Pefkakia hill was levelled in the 1950s to provide space for housing construction. The theatre was rediscovered in 1978, during digging for the construction of a new apartment building complex. The site was excavated in 1985–1986. The theatre has been occasionally used for theatrical performances since.

Description

Only the stage (''

skene Skene may refer to: * Skene, Aberdeenshire, a community in North East Scotland, United Kingdom * Skene, Mississippi, an unincorporated community in Mississippi, United States * Skene, Sweden, a village now part of Kinna, Sweden * Skene (automobile) ...

'') and the chorus area (''orchestra'') were completed; the semi-circular seating area (''koilon'') and the side entrances (''

parodoi A parodos (also parode and parodus; grc, πάροδος, 'entrance', plural ), in the theater of ancient Greece, is a side-entrance to the stage, or the first song that is sung by the chorus at the beginning of a Greek tragedy. Side-entrance to th ...

'') were left incomplete, apparently due to inability to fund their completion. The ''koilon'' is divided by 14 stairs into thirteen tiers, each with two rows of low seats of grey-white marble (''edolia''); the rest were never completed, and probably wooden seats (''ikria'') were used instead. The ''orchestra'' has a diameter of and is composed of two layers of stamped earth mixed with gravel. The ''thymele'' (a small square altar) is located on its right. It is of white marble, decorated with Lesbian-style ''

kymatia Cymatium, the uppermost molding at the top of the cornice in the classical order, is made of the s-shaped cyma molding (either ''cyma recta'' or ''cyma reversa''), combining a concave cavetto with a convex ovolo. It is characteristic of Ionic colu ...

'' (decorative bands). It stood on a stepped pedestal of three steps, of which the two lower ones survive. The marble used in the theatre was not newly quarried, but reused from an older building, probably of circular shape. Some of the blocks feature inscriptions from

freedmen A freedman or freedwoman is a formerly enslaved person who has been released from slavery, usually by legal means. Historically, enslaved people were freed by manumission (granted freedom by their captor-owners), abolitionism, emancipation (gra ...

dating to the late 3rd century BC.

References

Buildings and structures completed in the 1st century BC Ancient Greek theatres in Greece Buildings and structures in Larissa History of Larissa Ancient Greek archaeological sites in Thessaly {{Coord, 39, 38, 25, N, 22, 24, 43, E, display=title

History

Description

See also

References