Ancient amphitheatre in Plovdiv (Roman amphitheatre)
In the heart of Plovdiv city center lies the Plovdiv theatre. The theatre stands between the south-western slope of the Dzhambaz Tepe and the Taxim tepe hill within the old town, and is a major tourist attraction for travelers coming to the area.
The theatre was built in the 2nd century AD under the orders of Trajan the Roman Emperor at this time, and is the largest surviving Roman construction in Bulgaria today.
Built with about 7,000 seats, each section of seating had the names of the city quarters engraved on the benches so the citizens at the time knew where they were to sit.
The stage itself was decorated with ornaments, cornices and statues.
It was unearthed in 1968-79 in a Plovdiv Archaeological Museum work site. The amphitheatre featured 28 carved stone rows of which 20 remained intact.
Now within the limits of the Ancient Plovdiv Reserve, the theatre fits its ensemble as the most emblematic venue of the uninterrupted culture and historical succession ever accomplished in the Three Hills City.
Revived for a new life, it is an attractive intellectual centre of the city, where the modern culture interacts with the intransitive values of the past.
