Syracuse' s Greek Theatre

Sicily Villas in and near Syracuse »

Despite being a monument 2000 years-old, the Greek theatre in Syracuse still hosts ancient Greek dramas. It is the largest ancient Greek theatre in Sicily, and one of the largest in the world.

The theatre was carved out of the rock and then mutilated by the Spanish, who luckily maintained the ancient structure, made up of a cavea (audience space) originally with 15.000 seats (now only 7.500), a semicircular orchestra where the chorus danced, and a scaena (theatre stage). The cavea measures 138m in diameter, it has 67 lines of steps and it is divided into 9 sectors. Below you can see the Scale Carontee, entrances used for amazing apparitions.

On top of the cavea there are a rock-cut terrace, probably covered and used by the audience to take shelter from the rain, and the grotto of Ninfeo, where a river springs from the rocks and the actors awaited the right moment to make their entrance on the stage.

Sicily Villas in and near Syracuse »