Odeon of Herodes Atticus or Theatre of Herodes Atticus is a magnificent theatre that stands below ancient Athenian Acropolis. Odeon of Herodes Atticus or Theatre of Herodes Atticus was constructed during period of the Roman rule in 161- 174 AD. It was sponsored by money granted by Roman consul Herodes Atticus who also named the theatre after himself. It could seat up to 5000 spectators. Despite its size it was fairly easy to construct. Roman and Greek engineers simply used the natural curvature of the walls of the hill on which Acropolis stands to support the seats for the people. Colonnades that are visible behind the centre stage once contained statues of nine Muses, deities that protect and inspire all artists. Today they are gone. Odeon of Herodes Atticus was partially restored in 1955. Today it houses concerts and other cultural performances. The main difference between current restoration and the way it looked in the ancient times is lack of wooden roof that was probably made of cedar. This would protect the audience against sun as well as unexpected rain. Additionally it provide a better acoustics so that all spectators could hear the words of the play.
It was built at a rapid pace at the expense of Herod of Atticus
during the 2nd century AD, in honor of Aspasia's wife Annias Rigillis,
who died in 160 AD. The purpose of the building was primarily for
musical events and for this reason it was called the Conservatory. The
need for its construction arose after the collapse of the Odeum that had
been built in the center of the ancient market of Athens by the general
of Augustus, Agrippa, around 15 BC, and that to replace the even older
Odeum of Pericles, which had been set on fire by Sulla in 85 BC.
The public space had 32 rows of marble bleachers and had a capacity of
around 5000 spectators. As in the theaters of the Roman era, the
orchestra had a semicircular shape. The stage building was elevated at
the back of the stage and had three floors, two of which are preserved
to this day at a height of 28 meters. The conservatory was roofed with a
wooden roof made of cedar wood.
From various indications, it
appears that the Conservatory in question only operated for 105 years,
given that in the 3rd century, i.e. 267 AD, many buildings in Athens,
like this one, were destroyed by the Aerul raiders. Also during this
period, from the various findings of the excavations, such as skulls of
people and bulls, it is possible that the area was also used for duels
and bullfights. However, it seems that the walls of the building were
later used as a fortification, joining the wall that surrounded the base
of the Acropolis hill. In addition to the ruins of houses found inside
the Conservatory, ruins of a small church were also found. In the middle
of the stage and directly opposite the so-called "King's Gate" a
basement was discovered that extends the entire length of the stage.
The embankments that came in the following centuries almost
obliterated it, with the only visible point being the high wall of the
tent, with the whole structure looking more like a bridge.
During Medieval times those who visited the ruins of the Conservatory
were unable to identify which building it was. Others described it as
the palace of Leonidas and Miltiades, others as the "Tutorship of
Aristotle", while in 1575 the Nafplion scholar Theodosios Zygomalas
considered it as the "Academy of Aristotle". The first to argue that it
was the Conservatory of Herod Atticus was the English archaeologist
Richard Chandler in 1764, at a time when the interior of the building in
question was sown with barley.
During Ottoman rule, the remaining
building was incorporated together with the Stoa Eumenouis in the Haseki
Wall (1778), forming a fortification project, the so-called "Serpetze".
It is noted that from the arches of the Odeon, the Philhellenic French
general Favieros managed to enter the Acropolis, in December 1826, when
it was besieged by the Turks, in order to help the besieged Greeks.
Excavation and restoration
The first test excavation was carried
out in 1848 in the presence of King Othon by Kyriakos Pittakis and
Alexandros Ragavis. The evacuation of the Odeon from the embankments
that had accumulated on the roof ruins and reached a height of 15 m, was
started by Pittakis in 1857. Finally, the serious restoration began in
parts after the Second World War in the 1950s under Vasileos Pavlos with
plans of the Directorate of the Ministry of National Education and
Religious Affairs, which was mainly written by the professor and
academic Anastasios Orlandos immediately after he left the service, with
the help of the then restoration inspector Efstathios Stikkas.
With the gradual and partial restoration, it became possible to reveal
the whole of this ancient building and to find its former destination.
The seats of the spectators were lined with Pentelian marble and the
orchestra with slabs of Ymittos marble. Since the end of the same
decade, the Conservatory has been used, mainly during the summer months,
for cultural events and since then a multitude of Greek and foreign
artists have appeared in this space, including the Greek opera diva
Maria Callas in 1957, for a recital .