Odeon of Herodes Atticus, Roman odeon at the Acropolis slopes, Greece.
The Odeon of Herodes Atticus is a Roman theatre on the southwest slope of the Acropolis in Athens, Greece, completed in AD 161. Its curved facade of pale beige marble and limestone rises in two main levels of arched openings above dark doorways, and a three-story stone front wall once stood behind a cedar roof. The semicircular cavea has 33 rows of marble seats, and the scenery structures were 28 meters high.
The theater was built in 161 after Christ as a gift from Herodes Atticus in memory of his wife Aspasia Annia Regilla. The Heruli destroyed the structure in 267, and it was not fully restored until the 20th century.
The name honors Herodes Atticus, a wealthy Roman senator and rhetoric teacher who dedicated the theater to his late wife. Today the curved rows fill with audiences who sit on ancient marble steps and watch music or drama under the open sky.
Visitors can enter the interior only during public performances, which take place mainly in summer. From the paths along the Acropolis you can view the outer shape and the multi-level masonry even without a ticket.
Singers such as Maria Callas, Frank Sinatra, Luciano Pavarotti and Nana Mouskouri have performed on this ancient stage below the Acropolis walls. The acoustics allow voices to be heard clearly even in the highest rows without amplification.
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