via V.Emanuele, 266- from Mon. to Sat.9.00/13.00- 14,30/19.00- Sun and fest 9.00/13.00
The best way to see this monument is to follow the route laid by the wooden gangways that will lead you into the corridors of the ancient theatre. Before going into the interior of the building observe what remains of the ancient Via Grotte, which once linked Via Vittorio Emanuele to Via Teatro Greco; it was built on strong arches made in lava stone.
The lower structures of Catania’s theatre are currently touched by the waters of the Amenano river, the same waters which according to some scholars was used for water games in ancient times. Indeed, it is the presence of this river which flows under the ancient city that is the single largest obstacle to making use of the theatre. The ambulatories, the corridors, are reached by means of the vomitoria, a Latin term indicating the theatre’s internal entrances. On its southern side the theatre sits on the hill where Catania’s ancient acropolis was. In the past it could house an audience of some 7,000. The cavea, Latin name for the semicircle holding the terraces on which the audience sat, sits on high, vaulted corridors. It is made up of 21 series of seats, divided horizontally by two aisles (called technically praecinctiones) and vertically by nine wedges and eight stairways. The large semicircle of the orchestra has recently been freed of the raised structures that had been built on it. Recent archaeological excavation (1980) has brought to light: the eastern entrance to the stage building (the central entrance corresponds to the current entrance in Via Vittorio Emanuele), the wall of the pulpitum (part of the architectural decoration is still in position) and a niche on the front of the pulpitum in which a red marble statue stood, perhaps of Venus. A marble balustrade that divided the orchestra from the cavea was also discovered. The limestone seats were originally dressed in marble while the stairways dividing the cavea into nine wedges are of lava stone. The alternation of black and white, a feature of almost all Catanese buildings, lent this sober monument an air of affectation that has been irredeemably lost today. The terraces in the upper area have been rebuilt by restores who have demolished some of the modern houses that had invaded the theatre’s structure. The load-bearing walls of the building are made of a mixture of cement mortar mixed with stones and broken tiles; the exterior dressing is of large squared blocks of lava.
The theatre in the roman world
The popularity of theatrical representations had very ancient origins in Rome. The development of this art form was in part the result of a strong contribution from ideas deriving from Greek theatrical literature. These often inspired Latin tragedies and comedies.
Republican Romans, however, had a very different attitude towards the theatre – indeed actors were often freedmen or slaves, since a civis was not allowed to undertake this profession. Roman theatre buildings display some considerable differences compared with their Greek counterparts.
The cavea, for example, was not cut out of the rock but was an autonomous construction. In the case of Catania the Roman structures made use of an area probably occupied by even older buildings.
The stage area, which in Catania’s theatre was swallowed up by eighteenth-century constructions, carried rich decoration consisting of niches, columns and statues.
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