The Great theater

The Great Theater: Culture and History of Ephesus
The Great Theater of Ephesus is one of the iconic sites of the ancient city. Built into the Panayir hillside, the Theater stands at the intersection of Harbor Street and the Marble Road, dominating the landscape with its marble seats. The Theater was actually positioned to make use of the breeze coming off of the ocean, which would carry sound up towards the audience. It was here that ancient Ephesians would gather during the day for plays, concerts, debates, discussions, and even gladiator matches.

The Theater was first built during the Greek-era of the city, with the lower seating section and a one-story skene, the stage. Later, under the Roman rule of the city, the Great Theater was expanded over 60 years to become the largest theatre in Asia Minor. The skene was raised to three stories and two more seating sections were added, bringing the total capacity of the Theater to 25,000. Admission was charged at the entrance where attendees were given a small coin which also indicated their seating section within the cavea, the seating stands.

With these renovations, the skene was raised to the traditional Roman height of 3 stories. The facade of this stage backdrop would have been decorated with reliefs, statues, niches, windows and columns. Five doors would have been spread out across the bottom level, the middle one larger than the rest to make the structure appear larger; the Celsus Library also employs this trick of visual perspective. One of the final additions to the Theater was an awning added in the second century to provide shade to spectators. Nearby can be found the Domitian Temple and Commercial Agora.

Unfortunately, a large earthquake in the 4th century AD was the beginning of the end for the Great Theater. Only partial repairs were made and some of the marble was being repurposed for the construction and repair of other buildings. In the 8th century, the Theater was incorporated into the defensive perimeter of the city.

The Great Theater is also significant for its place in Christian history. It was here that a riot was incited against Paul the Apostle by the silversmiths of Ephesus. Paul was forced to flee the city and later wrote a letter to the Ephesians, which is now the Book of Ephesians in the New Testament.

Visit our Ephesus tours from Istanbul for some exceptional Turkey Tours passing by the rich historical world heritage site of Ephesus.