Greek Theater of Syracuse
The Greek Theater of Syracuse is the most famous monument in the city and it was also in ancient times, being the most important building for performances in the Greek-Western world. It was also a place of worship and of great popular assemblies, seat of public trials and, in Roman times, it was also adapted to circus and variety performances.
The archaeological excavations carried out in the mid-twentieth century brought the theater back to the conditions in which it is today it is found making it the epicenter of the Archaeological Park of Neapolis .
The oldest part of the building is a basement of a temple dating back to the end of the 6th century BC. C .. In the third century BC the theater adapts itself to the constructive principles of the architecture of the Greek-oriental world, exploiting the conformation of the Temenite hill, on which it stands, and combining the architectural values with the landscape ones.
The part of the theater that has reached our days is the part excavated in the rock of the Temenite hill, while part of the cavea and the monumental remains of the Roman age scene have been lost, probably due to the reuse of the blocks by the Spaniards who would have used them to build the fortifications of Ortigia between the 1520 and 1531.
The auditorium of the theater is very large, with 67 orders of steps entirely carved in the rock and is divided into nine wedges by eight ladders and horizontally, about halfway, by a corridor, the diàzoma. At the top of the cavea, in the western sector, there was an "L"-shaped portico of which a quay cut into the rock remains visible, referable to the foundation of the front colonnade.
In the theater today classical theater performances are held, mainly operas of the Greek tragics of the 5th century BC. C ..
