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ANCIENT THEATRES - ANCIENT THEATRES' IDENTITY
THEATRE OF
DEMETRIAS
Information
|
Description
of the
Monument
|
Photo
Gallery
|
Scientific
Report
 |
The theatre of ancient Demetrias is located within the walls of ancient Demetrias, on the site known as “Sta Dontia” near the neighbourhood of Nees Pagasses in Volos Municipality. It was built when the ancient city was founded by Demetrios Poliorcetes, opposite the Palace of the Macedonian Kings and below the hill on which stood the Heroon of the Archegetes and Builders of the city of Demetrias. It has been argued that the theatre also served the needs of a Heroon. |
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Description of the Theatre
The theatre is located within the walls of ancient Demetrias, on the site known as “Sta Dontia” (meaning “At the Teeth”, because of the surviving pillars of the ancient aqueduct passing next to the theatre), near the neighbourhood of “Nees Pagasses” in Volos Municipality.
The theatre was built simultaneously with the foundation of the city by the Macedonian king Demetrios Poliorcetes, in 294-292 BC. The current situation of the theatre, stripped of its stone seats, was created after the final abandonment of the building in the mid-4th c. AD, while the stage building belongs to the Roman period.
Despite the extensive stone-robbing which started on the abandonment of the theatre, the monument preserves the characteristic tripartite form of Hellenistic theatres: the stage building, the orchestra and the cavea with the epitheatre.
Four phases have been identified to date for the stage building, with another three or four in the area of the cavea, although they cannot yet be dated accurately and those of each area definitively correlated to each other.
The location of the theatre in the city is not accidental. The theatre was built opposite the Palace of the Macedonian Kings and below the hill on which stood the Heroon of the Archegetes and Builders of the city of Demetrias. It has been argued that the theatre served also the needs of a Heroon.
Babis G.
Intzesiloglou
Archaeologist
Photo
Gallery
 |
General view of the Theatre |
Scientific
Report
| Monument Name |
Ancient
Theatre
of
Demetrias |
| Category |
Theatre |
| Brief Description |
The
theatre
has
the
characteristic
tripartite
form
of
Hellenistic
theatres:
cavea,
orchestra
and
stage
building. |
| Images - Plans |
There
are
full
photographic
records
and
drawings
of
the
recent
excavations
of
the
monument.
There
are
only
a
few
photographs
of
the
earlier
excavations
in
the
1950s.
There
is a
published
plan
by
Peter
Marzolff
in
the
Demetrias
series.
A
recent
plan
has
also
been
published
by
Babis
G.
Intzesiloglou
in “Μνημεία
της
Μαγνησίας”
(see
below). |
| Documentation - Bibliography |
Βαλέριος
Στάης,
ΠAE
1901,
40.
Απόστολος
Aρβανιτόπουλος,
ΠAE
1907,
180-181
and
ΠAE
1912,
156-159.
Δ.P.
Θεοχάρης,
AΔ
16(1960)-Χρονικά,
172-174;
Δ.P.
Θεοχάρης,
«Έρευναι
εν
Δημητριάδι,
I»,
ΘEΣΣAΛIKA,
vol.
III,
Volos,
1960,
57-85.
Χ.
Ιντζεσίλογλου,
AΔ
42(1987)-Χρονικά,
253-254;
AΔ
51(1993)-Xρονικά,
227-228;
AΔ
51(1996)-Χρονικά,
338-342.
Babis
Intzesiloglou,
“Le
Théâtre
Antique
de
Démétrias”,
Les
Dossiers
d’Archéologie,
159
(1991),
pp.
58-59.
Μπάμπης
Ιντζεσίλογλου,
Αρχαίο
Θέατρο
Δημητριάδας
(Information
Leaflet),
Volos
1995.
X. Iντζεσίλογλου,
«Το
αρχαίο
θέατρο
Δημητριάδος»,
in
Μνημεία
της
Μαγνησίας
(Proceedings
of
the
Conference
«Ανάδειξη
του
διαχρονικού
Μνημειακού
πλούτου
του
Βόλου
και
της
ευρύτερης
περιοχής»,
Volos
11-13
May
2001),
Volos,
2001,
116-123. |
| Location |
The
theatre
is
located
on
the
site
known
as
“Sta
Dontia”
in
the
neighbourhood
of
Nees
Pagasses,
in
Volos
Municipality. |
| Dating |
The
theatre
was
built
in
294-292
BC
when
Demetrias
was
founded.
It
was
abandoned
after
the
mid-4th
c.
AD.
Four
phases
of
repairs
have
been
identified
in
the
cavea
and
the
stage
building. |
|
General Description of Monument
|
The
architectural
structures
visible
in
the
ancient
theatre
of
Demetrias
today
are
the
remains
of
the
form
that
the
theatre
assumed
in
the
Roman
period
and
the
following
intensive
stone-robbing
of
the
monument
from
Early
Christian
times
onwards.
The
following
parts
of
the
theatre
are
dated
to
the
Roman
period:
a)
the
stage
building
with
its
three
rooms;
b)
the
earthen
orchestra
with
the
base
of
the
thymele
(altar
to
Dionysos)
in
its
centre;
c)
the
cavea,
denuded
of
stones,
and
the
scattered
limestone
blocks,
many
reused;
d)
the
two
groups
of
seats
preserved
on
the
seat
bases
(in
the
lower
part
of
the
cavea
are
some
cornerstones
placed
there
in
the
1960s
to
serve
as
seats
for
the
audiences
of
certain
performances
that
began
to
be
held
in
the
theatre);
and
e)
the
large
Roman
retaining
wall
of
the
cavea
with
stone
blocks
in
the
north
parodos.
The
following
parts
of
the
Hellenistic
theatre
are
visible
today:
a)
remains
of
walls
from
three
earlier
(than
the
Roman)
phases
of
the
stage
building;
the
stylobate
(base)
of
the
proscenium
stoa
and
the
wall-bases
to
left
and
right
which
supported
the
ramps
leading
to
the
“theologeion”;
c)
the
perimetric
duct
and
the
earthen
orchestra;
d)
the
seat
bases,
divided
into
three
phases;
e)
the
thresholds
of
the
gates
of
the
two
parodoi;
f)
the
large
retaining
wall
of
the
cavea
with
the
raw
bricks
in
the
northern
parodos;
and
g)
the
two
sections
of
retaining
walls
on
the
north
rear
side
of
the
cavea,
which
delimit
the
theatre
area
on
that
side. |
| Current Situation |
- |
| Excavations - Interventions |
No
reconstruction
work
has
been
carried
out
on
the
monument
apart
from
the
Roman
stage,
which
was
rebuilt
to a
height
of
one
metre
after
the
excavation
by
D.
R.
Theocharis
in
the
1950s.
This
reconstruction
was
essential
in
the
late
1950s
and
it
is
to
this
that
we
owe
the
relatively
good
state
of
preservation
of
the
stage
building
today.
However,
the
plaster
is
already
beginning
to
show
signs
of
wear,
making
it
imperative
to
remove
the
old
reconstruction
material
and
replace
it
using
modern
methods
and
materials.
The
following
work
has
also
been
proposed:
a)
replacing
three
missing
marble
slabs
to
complete
the
row
of
seat
bases;
and
b)
replacing
the
missing
cover
slabs
of
the
built
duct
running
round
the
orchestra.
Finally,
the
preliminary
study
has
been
approved
for
the
reconstruction
of
two
limestone
columns
of
the
stoa
of
the
Hellenistic
proscenium,
setting
the
entablature
on
them.
The
preliminary
study
was
based
on
the
finds
from
the
excavations
of
recent
years
in
the
ancient
theatre,
combined
with
the
identification
of
unrecorded
architectural
members
housed
in
Volos
Archaeological
Museum
and
derived
from
A.
Arvanitopoulos’s
excavations
in
the
area
of
the
stage.
The
problem
of
protecting
the
most
vulnerable
part
of
the
theatre,
the
cavea,
must
form
the
subject
of a
special
study,
because
frost
cracks
the
fragile
scattered
sections
of
limestone,
many
reused,
and
the
rain
shifts
them
to a
lower
level,
making
their
original
location
extremely
hard
to
identify. |
| Permitted Uses |
- |
|
History of Modern Uses |
- |
| Further Information |
- |
| Intellectual Rights |
- |
| Jurisdiction |
- |
|
Latitude |
- |
| Longitude |
- |
| Altitude |
0 |
| Google Earth |
- |
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