Ancient Theatre of Thoricus

It is the oldest theatre that has survived and dates back to the end of the Archaic Greek period, somewhere between 525 – 480 B.C. Its peculiarities are related to its shape; it is not circular but straight and has a rectangular orchestra, unlike later theatres which had circular ones. It has 21 rows of seats and its capacity reached about 4,000 people.

Stairs divide the building into two tiers of unequal size. At the time it had a wooden stage, which was never replaced by a stone one, as in other theatres. To the east of the orchestra, the base of the altar, a room with carved natural benches used for meetings of the officials of the ancient municipality (dating from the mid-5th century) and the base of a small temple to Dionysus have been preserved. To the west of the orchestra there is also a complex of rooms, aligned with the western aisle that were part of the theatre facilities. Finally, the theatre was used for the meetings of the citizens of the ancient “deme” (municipality) of Thorikus, to which the theatre belonged.