The ancient theatre is
reached from number 266 Via Vittorio Emanuele. The
monument, leaning against the southern side of the
acropolis hill and built in volcanic materials, is some
102 metres in diameter and was able to accommodate at
least 7,000 spectators. Today most of the cavea [the
terraces], one edge of the orchestra and a small part of
the stage arevisible. The cavea rests on three high,
vaulted corridors designed to facilitate movement of the
audience. The middle and lower sections, divided
horizontally into three parts by two passages
(praecinctiones), are divided vertically into nine wedges
by eight stairways. The seats are in limestone, the lower
rows of the second and third wedge, however, were dressed
in marble,  being
reserved for personages.The orchestra, too, was paved in
marble. Behind the middle cavea stood a high wall which
separated the upper section, reached by two stairways on
the exterior wall of the theatre. The function of the
platform at the centre of this section remains uncertain:
perhaps it carried a small temple as in other Italic and
north-African theatre buildings. The chronology of the
building is much debated. Certainly in use up to the late
antiquity for waterworks and perhaps also for drama, in
its current form it seems to date to the first decades of
the second century AD. Architectonic remains relating to
at least two prior phases have been identified in various
parts of the monument and have been attributed to the
first century AD (Julian-Claudian and Flavian Age). lt is
likely, furthermore, that the Roman theatre was
superimposed on the classical, Greek theatre - the
theatre in which Alcibiades spoke to the inhabitants of
Catania during the Peloponnese war. Of the earlier
structures belonging to the Greek city, however, no
definite remains have yet been identified. ln the
eleventh century, on Count Roger's orders, the theatre
was stripped of its marble dressing, which was used
largely in the construction of the cathedral. In the
second half of the eighteenth century the Prince of
Biscari began the excavation of the monument, recovering
among other items inscriptions, marble decorations and
statue fragments (now in the Civic Museum). The 19305 saw
the demolition of some buildings that had invaded the
cavea over the course of centuries, an operation that
remains incomplete today. Recent decades have witnessed
the restoration of some visible parts of the theatre.
Finally, in 1979 and 1980 research carried out by the
Archaeological Superintendency of Syracuse and the
University of Catania, as well as identifying elements
useful in the dating of the various phases of
construction, also uncovered important remnants of the
stage apparatus. |
