Theater at Aspendos

Theater at Aspendos

161-180

5673

Zeno

Bugbee, Gordon (photograph)

Single Built Works

Turkey (nation)

Belkis (inhabited place)

Imperial (Roman)

amphitheaters (built works)

Bird's-eye view of the Theater at Aspendos (now Belkis), Turkey. "In addition to the distinction of being a prime example of "eastern" Roman theatre construction, Aspendos is further distinguished by being the only example of purely Roman construction in Turkey with the cavea completely and seamlessly joined to the skene. Although influenced by the Hellenistic practice of building a horseshoe-shaped cavea against a hillside, the barrel-vaulted substructures supporting the upper levels of the cavea are purely Roman. Both the upper and lower levels of the cavea are made of near-marble quality limestone and are separated by a single diazomata. The forty-one rows of seats in the cavea are subdivided by ten radiating staircases in the lower seating section and twenty-one staircases in the upper section. A barrel-vaulted tunnel provides architectural support for the upper cavea and runs behind the sole diazomata that separates the two seating levels. Surrounding the uppermost row of seating at the top of the cavea is a colonnaded gallery with fifty-nine vaulted arches,"--Department of Theatre, Whitman College website.

limestone

conglomerate

Theatron: 325 w X 240 feet

jpeg

41

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GPB-ROM7-1418