The
Acropolis - Dionysos Theater
The Theatre of Dionysos.
The oldest
Greek theater, built in the 5th century BC, is just below the Acropolis. It’s
the first archaeological site you’ll see as you walk up Dionysiou Areopagitou
Street from Hadrian’s Arch. The plays of Aristophanes, Euripides, Aeschylus and
Sophocles were first performed there. The theater held some 17,000 spectators.No
trace has been preserved of the 5th-century theatre which must have been simple
in form with a few rows of wooden and stone seats. The preserved ruins belong
to the monumental theatre built by Lycourgos. The permanent skene (stage) was
then constructed, extending in the width of the orchestra. After its destruction
by Sulla in 86 B.C., the theatre and the skene were rebuilt.
The Odeion (theater) of HERODES Atticus.
It was the third Odeion to be built in Athens, after the Odeion of Perikles and that of Agrippa. It was erected by the Roman Emperor Herodes in memory of his wife Regilla, who died in A.D. 160. It is shaped as a semicircular theatre, with a radius of 38 m., and could seat around 5,000 people. The facade, 28 m. high, was massive, having a width of 2,40 m. The wall of the skene was lavishly decorated with architectural elements. The Odeion was destroyed during the invasion of the Herulae who also destroyed most of the city's monuments in A.D. 267.
The Stoa of EVMENES.
The Stoa (Galleria) it is dated to the Hellenistic period and is attributed to Eumenes II, the king of Pergamos (197-159 B.C.) in Asia Minor. The stoa was constructed along the "peripatos" (walkway), the road which runs above it and runs around the bot of the hill. It was built of conglomerate, poros stone, Hymettian marble and Pergamene marble, imported in cut blocks.
Note: Open daily 8:30 am-2:30 pm. Entrance fee 500 GDR. No tours,
but a book on the theater’s history in English is available for 2,500 GDR. Phone
01-3224625.
