Εγκυκλοπαίδεια Μείζονος Ελληνισμού, Μ. Ασία

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Patara (Antiquity), Theatre

Συγγραφή : Aristodimou Georgia (12/6/2002)
Μετάφραση : Kalogeropoulou Georgia , Karioris Panagiotis (30/6/2008)

Για παραπομπή: Aristodimou Georgia, "Patara (Antiquity), Theatre", 2008,
Εγκυκλοπαίδεια Μείζονος Ελληνισμού, Μ. Ασία
URL: <http://www.ehw.gr/l.aspx?id=9116>
Πάταρα (Αρχαιότητα), Θέατρο (21/4/2008 v.1) Patara (Antiquity), Theatre (28/7/2008 v.1) 
 

1. Location

The theatre is the most prominent amongst the architectural remains on the city of Patara, in the Roman province of Lycia. It is built on the northeast side of a hill (Kursunlutepe) within the boundaries of the city. Facing northeast, it is located towards the centre of the ancient city and the harbour. Nowadays, it is gradually being covered with sand.1

2. Architectural design

It is a theatre of the Greek type. The cavea (auditorium), measuring 84 m. in diameter without the corner towers, has a shape larger than a semi-circle. It is constructed on a natural slope, taking advantage of its inclination. The necessity to even out the different level of the ground led to the use of auxiliary substructures for the construction of the lateral parts (retaining walls). The points where the cavea meets the retaining walls are buttressed by corner towers lower than the theatre in height. As architectural features, they appear more connected with the outer wall of the cavea than the retaining wall. The structures which form the bases for the retaining walls feature vaulted passages in radial lay out for the access of the audience. These passage-ways lead to the diazoma, in the center of the second and seventh cercis of the lower part of the cavea. Their semi-cylindrical roof steps on a podium which ends to a cornice.

The cavea is divided into two parts (maeniana) by a perimetric aisle. The lower part (ima cavea-maenianum) is divided by 9 stepped passageways into 9 sections of seats (cunei). There must have been 16 rows of seats for that part of the auditorium (three of them have been covered with sand). The upper part of the cavea (summa cavea-maenianum) is divided into 16 cunei and comprises 14 rows of seats with a broad recessed space for the feet of the spectator. At the upper end of the cavea there was a perimetric aisle, 0,71 m wide, for the movement of the audience. This passageway provided access to a temple which was built at the upper end of the cavea. The spectators entered the theatre through several points: through the parodoi in the lower part of the auditorium (ima cavea), directly from the hillside for the upper part (summa cavea) and through the two vaulted passageways which begun at the outer part of the perimetric wall of the cavea and led to the perimetric aisle which divided the upper and the lower part of the auditorium. From that point the audience could move upwards or downwards, using the steps, without disturbing the seated spectators.

The scene was of orthogonal plan2 and had three floors: the first (hyposcenium) followed the Doric style and remains in situ. The scene had a façade with five doorways, decorated with architraves and cornices. The doorways were not of equal size. The central one was bigger while the others were gradually getting smaller, in both height and width, in perspective to the central door. There were two more doorways in the side walls of the scene, one on each side. Two walls remain from the parascenium (one on every short side) which project 10,30 m. from the façade. They reach up to the retaining walls, so they define the proscenium, whose architectural features of the façade are not preserved and the estimate of its depth is impossible. In the walls of the proscenium there were two big doorways which were kept closed when there was not a performance to prevent any access. Behind the scene, a portico (porticus post scaenam) with pillars and openings (doors or windows) provided shelter for the audience in the event of bad weather or during intermissions.

3. Building techniques

Local limestone was used for the construction of the auditorium and the scene. The masonry is of the pseudoisodomum technique. The corner ashlars are joined together without mortar. Their external surface is rough. The same technique was used for the construction of the outer wall which surrounded the cavea. However, at the upper part, the masonry is less regular and there are a few signs of repairs. The lower part seems to belong to an earlier period, testified by the smaller dimensions of the corner ashlars. The same pseudoisodomum has been applied to the corner towers and the retaining walls. Only at the point which corresponds to the perimetric aisle, two series of bigger stones appear. The retaining walls follow at their upper end the inclination of the auditorium and they are cut in an L shape, so that they are perfectly joined together.3

4. Chronology

The architectural plan of the theatre is of the Hellenistic type but its construction is dated to Imperial times. The cavea was completed under Tiberius (14-37 AD). This is testified by a dedicatory inscription preserved on a scene wall, which reports Polyperchon of Demetrius as the donator, archpriest and prophet of Apollo.4 Extended repair works took place the Antonine times after the serious earthquake of 141 AD, which caused great damage in several Lycian cities. There is a monumental inscription,5 built in the northwest side of the scene, which informs us that Quintus Velius Titianus from Patara funded the construction of the entire scene, the eleventh row of seats (and perhaps the eleventh cercis) in the upper part of the cavea (suma cavea), as well as of a tent (velum) over the cavea and perhaps of other drapes. We are also informed that his daughter , Velia Procla, completed the renovation and adorned the theatre with sculptures and marble inlays. All these were dedicated to the Emperor Antoninus Pius, gods Sevasti and to the gods of the land and the city in 147 AD.

5. Preservation

Nowadays, the theatre is in a rather good condition. The lower part of the cavea, the orchestra and the proscenium are covered with sand, while the scene is almost hidden in trees.6 Until the 19th century the illustrations7 of the time testified an even better state of presrvation. No excavations have been carried out so far.

1. Fahri Işiki, Patara: The history and ruins of the Capital City of Lycian League (Antalya 2000), pp. 130-134.

2. Its overall dimensions are: length 39,40 m, width 4,63 m, width of the walls 0,90 m.

3. Cf. the similarity of this particular feature with the theatre at Pinara.

4. TAM, II, 420. De Bernardi Ferrero, D., Teatri classici in Asia Minore 2 (Roma 1969), p. 131, fig. 196, App. II, pp. 208-209, no. 10. The inscription is written on the scene wall, above the door of the hyposcenium.

5. TAM, II, 420. De Bernardi Ferrero, D., Teatri classici in Asia Minore 2 (Roma 1969), p. 131, App. II, pp. 210-211, no. 12.

6. Bean, G. E., Lycian Turkey- An Archaeological Guide (London 1978), p. 87, fig. 10.

7. Dilletanti, Antiquities of Ionia, and the photographs by W. Burger taken in 1881.
     
 
 
 
 
 

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