Ancient Hellenistic Amphitheatre (Paphos)

 archaeological site, amphitheatre, ancient ruins, fenced area

A team from the University of Sydney has now been excavating since 1995 at the site of an ancient theatre in the town of Paphos on the western coast of Cyprus.


The theatre at Paphos in western Cyprus lies in the north-eastern corner of the ancient town, diagonally
opposite the harbour. It seems to have been built early in the life of the town, in the last years of the
fourth century BC.

It seems to show close links with the architecture of Alexandria, as one would expect given that fact
that Paphos was the Ptolemaic capital of the island, and there is every chance that it reflects the style
of the theatre of Alexandria which is no longer preserved.

It seems to show several features that are important to the evolution of ancient theatre design, not least
its semicircular form.

The stage building so far has not been taken below the Late Roman levels, and it will be the subject of
a dedicated campaign in 1999.

The theatre is only partially built into a hill and the rest was built up with an artificial earthen
embankment on which stone seating was placed. To the south of the theatre a paved road was
constructed parallel to the stage building in the third century AD, and excavation through part of it
(see Trench 3A) has revealed a series of closely-dated deposits which are proving to have
far-reaching importance for the chronology of pottery and glass of the 3rd and 4th centuries.

In the 13th-15th centuries AD there was a sizeable farmstead over the area of the stage-building,
and it is part of important medieval activity in Paphos, in the period of the Crusaders.


source: www.arts.usyd.edu.au/departs/classical/paphos/