The Odeon

The Odeon

A Cultural Centre

 

The construction of the Odeon began during the reign of emperor Augustus (27 BC-14 AD), a fact we know because we were able to date a well-preserved column capital discovered during the excavations to this period. The construction, however dragged on for about 200 years. The building was probably financed by the city council.

 

The Odeon was an indoor theatre and a concert hall with a semicircular auditorium and a stage building (skene) about 50 meters long. 1500 to 2000 spectators could be seated in the multipurpose room to watch music, drama, poetry and oratory. Famous orators on tour also held their performances here.

 

The rich inner façade of the stage building was not completed until around 200 AD. The eastern entrance is very well preserved: still intact are the staircase leading to the podium and the special loggia facing the stage, reserved for prominent spectators.

 

When the Odeon was completed it was probably used for meetings of the city council. The theatre-like arrangement ensured good acoustics, better than those in the Bouleuterion. The Odeon you now see is the result of 6th century AD renovations, when gladiator fights and animal hunts were also held here. Today only the rough shape of the cavea (seating area) is preserved: the stone seating was removed in late Antiquity.