Above the door was a frieze decorated with centaurs, which is no longer there but is instead on display across the street in the Orange Museum (unfortunately only remains are left). This door was used only by the most important, principal actors to enter and exit the stage. The central door, below the niche containing this statue, is called the Royal Door, or valva regia. The central niche contains a 3.5-meter-high (11 ft) statue of the emperor Augustus, although this was most likely a restoration of an original statue of Apollo, the god of music and the arts. It originally was embellished with marble mosaics of many different colors, multiple columns and friezes, and statues placed in niches. The wall, also known as the scaenae frons, is the only architecturally decorated surface throughout the entire theatre. This wall is vital to the theatre, as it helped to project sound to the large audience. The stage, which is 61 meters (200 ft) long and raised about one meter from the ground, is backed by a 37-meter-high (121 ft) wall whose height has been preserved completely. The main three doors on the first level of the facade open directly onto the stage inside the theatre, which can seat from 5,800 up to 7,300 (today, much of the seating has been reconstructed to ensure the safety of tourists and audience members). Although it is relatively sparse in decoration and embellishment, the three story wall gives an overwhelmingly powerful appearance to the entire building. There is evidence on the walls that shows that, at some point, the roof was destroyed in a fire. Originally, there was a wooden roof across the theatre to protect the audience from unfavorable weather conditions. One of the most iconic parts of this structure is the grand exterior facade, which measures to be 103 meters (338 ft) long and 37 meters (121 ft) high. The Orange theatre was created under the rule of Augustus, and is believed to be one of the first of its kind in this area of modern-day France. In 55 BC Pompey had a stone theatre built in his home city of Rome, and thereafter grand (and permanent) Roman theatres spread widely. In 1981, the Roman Theatre was inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List for its outstanding preservation and architecture.Ĭonstruction and structure The Orange theatre is one of few Roman theatres which still retains the Scaenae frons, at the rear of the stage, though stripped of its elaborate decoration.Įarly Roman theatre were mostly constructed from wood and meant to be temporary structures. It has been restored to its former function, primarily for opera, alongside its use as a tourist spot. The entertainment offered was open to all and free of charge. For the common people, who were fond of spectacular effects, magnificent stage sets became very important, as was the use of stage machinery. Mime, pantomime, poetry readings and the "attelana" (a kind of farce rather like the commedia dell'arte) were the dominant forms of entertainment, much of which lasted all day. Playing a major role in the life of the citizens, who spent a large part of their free time there, the theatre was seen by the Roman authorities not only as a means of spreading Roman culture to the colonies, but also as a way of distracting them from all political activities. It is one of the best preserved of all Roman theatres, and served the Roman colony of Arausio (or, more specifically, Colonia Julia Firma Secundanorum Arausio: "the Julian colony of Arausio established by the soldiers of the second legion") which was founded in 40 BC. The structure is owned by the municipality of Orange and is the home of the summer opera festival, the Chorégies d'Orange. It was built early in the 1st century AD. The Roman Theatre of Orange (French: Théâtre antique d'Orange) is a Roman theatre in Orange, Vaucluse, France. Roman Theatre of Orange (France) Show map of France
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