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ANCIENT THEATRES - ANCIENT THEATRES' IDENTITY
THEATRE of
GORTYS
(Large)
Information
|
Description
of monument
|
Photo
gallery
|
Scientific
report
 |
The Gortys archaeological site is located in
Gortyna Municipality, in Crete. The Large Theatre
of Gortys has been carved into the southeast slope of the
hill of the Acropolis, on the opposite side of the River
Lethaeus, where the Odeion and the Agora stood. |
|
|
|
Description of the Monument
The Gortys archaeological site is located in Gortyna Municipality, in Crete. The
Large Theatre of Gortys has been carved into the southeast slope of the hill of
the Acropolis, on the opposite side of the River Lethaeus, where the Odeion and
the Agora stood. According to Belli there was no portico, which is probably
confirmed by the fact that the theatre is very close to the River Lethaeus.
The cavea of the theatre, with a circumference of 140 m, internal diameter of approximately 40 m and external diameter of 88 m, had a carved channel along its rear side which served as a rainwater drainage duct during the winter, and also provided access to the upper cavea via five openings in the outer wall.
The two ends of the cavea were not carved into the rock of the hill but were supported by vaulted structures which had arcaded façades. Within the outer wall and above the uppermost row of seats ran a circular passageway (ambulacrum) with a colonnade 2 m in width, while there was also a wider passageway 3.60 m in width which divided the upper from the lower cavea. The lower cavea was larger and probably had 18 rows of seats, while the upper cavea had 11 rows.
According to Sanders, the greater part of this theatral structure is preserved, in rather poor condition, and is overgrown.
Where the rock had not been used, the theatre was built of concrete faced with brickwork, while at the base large sections of columns have been used for greater stability.
Our information on the stage building, which was probably destroyed in the 19th century, comes from Onorio Belli’s descriptions. The stage building was 120 m long, while the proscenium (scaenae frons) covered about 70 m. The proscenium was uniform and the motif also continued uniformly in the parodoi, which had rectangular platforms with a curved niche in the rear side. Each platform was separated from its neighbours by a pair of columns on bases. There were three doorways in the postscenium (the area behind the stage), of which the central one was flanked by columns. According to Belli the scaenae frons had five rows of Ionic columns of white marble, 5.4 m in height and 0.53 m in diameter. Sanders considers the number of column rows exaggerated. An inscription referring to Julia Augusta was set into the scaenae frons. We do not know which of the imperial Julias was referred to, but according to Belli the inscription was in second use. Spratt mentions that the theatre also contained a sculpture group of the 1st c. BC representing the Rape of Europa, now in the British Museum, but this was probably not its original location.
Systematic excavations have not been carried out in the Large Theatre of Gortys.
The archaeological site may be visited by arrangement with the competent Ephorate of Prehistoric and Classical Antiquities.
Maria
Bredaki
Archaeologist
Photo
gallery
 |
View |
 |
Plan by Οnorio Belli |
 |
Section |
Scientific
report
| Monument Name |
Large
Theatre
of
Gortys. |
| Category |
Theatre. |
| Brief Description |
The
Large
Theatre
of
Gortys
has
been
carved
into
the
southeast
slope
of
the
hill
of
the
Acropolis,
on
the
opposite
side
of
the
River
Lethaeus,
where
the
Odeion
and
the
Agora
stood. |
| Images - Plans |
Plan
by
O.
Belli |
| Documentation - Bibliography |
1.
Α.
Taramelli,
AJA
VI
(1902),
108
ff.
2.
I.
F.
Sanders,
Roman
Crete,
Warminster
1982,
63.
3.
A.
di
Vita,
V.
La
Rosa
& M.
A.
Rizzo
(eds),
Ancient
Crete.
A
Hundred
Years
of
Italian
Archaeology
(1884-1984),
Roma
1985,
59.
4.
Α.
Κάντα,
Φαιστός,
Αγία
Τριάδα,
Γόρτυνα,
Athens
1998,
p.
141. |
| Location |
The
archaeological
site
of
Gortys
is
located
in
Gortyna
Municipality. |
| Dating |
- |
|
General Description of Monument
|
The Large Theatre of Gortys has been carved into the southeast slope of the hill of the Acropolis, on the opposite side of the River Lethaeus, where the Odeion and the Agora stood. According to Belli there was no portico, which is probably confirmed by the fact that the theatre is very close to the River Lethaeus. The cavea of the theatre, with a circumference of 140 m, internal diameter of approximately 40 m and external diameter of 88 m, had a carved channel along its rear side which served as a rainwater drainage duct during the winter, and also provided access to the upper cavea via five openings in the outer wall, which was 2.2 m thick. The two ends of the cavea were not carved into the rock of the hill but were supported by vaulted structures which had the usual arcaded façades. Within the outer wall and above the uppermost row of seats ran an ambulacrum with a colonnade 2 m in width, while there was also a wider passageway 3.60 m in width which divided the upper from the lower cavea. The lower cavea was larger and probably had 18 rows of seats, as opposed to the 11 rows of the upper cavea. According to Sanders, the greater part of the theatral structure described above is preserved, albeit in poor condition and overgrown. Where the rock had not been used, the theatre was built of concrete faced with brickwork, while at the base large sections of columns have been used for greater stability. The stage building was 120 m long, while the proscenium (scaenae frons) covered just 70 m. We known of it only from Onorio Belli’s descriptions in the 15th century, and it was probably destroyed in the 19th century. The scaenae frons was uniform and the motif also continued uniformly in the parodoi: rectangular platforms with a curved niche in the rear side. Each platform was separated from its neighbours by a pair of columns on bases. There were three doorways in the postscenium (the area behind the stage), of which the central one was flanked by columns. According to Belli the scaenae frons had five rows of columns, 5.4 m in height (probably the shorter ones) and 0.53 m in diameter (Sanders considers the number of column rows exaggerated). They were of white marble in the Ionic order. An inscription referring to Julia Augusta was set into the scaenae frons (it is uncertain which of the imperial Julias was referred to). According to Belli, however, the inscription was in second use. Spratt notes that a sculpture group of the 1st c. BC representing the Rape of Europa, now in the British Museum, was found in the theatre, but even this was probably not its original location. |
| Current Situation |
No
conservation
work
has
been
carried
out. |
| Excavations - Interventions |
The
monument
has
never
been
systematically
excavated.
In
2009
the
Foundation
for
Research
and
Technology-Hellas
(FORTH)
carried
out
a
geophysics
study
and
mapped
the
ancient
theatre,
following
the
collaboration
of
the
Prefectural
Administration
of
Heraklion
and
Prefect
E.
Schinaraki
with
the
23rd
Ephorate
of
Prehistoric
and
Classical
Antiquities
and
its
Director
Μ.
Bredaki. |
| Permitted Uses |
The
archaeological
site
may
be
visited
by
arrangement. |
|
History of Modern Uses |
- |
| Further Information |
Located
in
the
archaeological
site
of
Gortys. |
| Intellectual Rights |
- |
| Jurisdiction |
The
monument
belongs
to
the
jurisdiction
of
the
Ministry
of
Culture
/ 23rd
Ephorate
of
Prehistoric
and
Classical
Antiquities. |
|
Latitude |
- |
| Longitude |
- |
| Altitude |
0 |
| Google Earth |
Link |
