Pula amphitheater
The Roman Amphitheater Pula ( Croatia ) ( Croatian : Pulska Arena ) is the sixth largest amphitheater of antiquity and one of the best preserved. Although the interior of the building was lost through overexploitation over the centuries, its white limestone facade is largely in its original state. Since its final expansion (around 81 AD), it has consisted of two rows of arcades with 72 arches and a crowning upper floor, which is broken through by 64 rectangular window niches. The building reaches a height of 32.45 meters on the sea side. Since its east side rests on a hill, it is much lower on the outside. In the lower row of arches, 32 arches could be partially or completely saved as an adaptation to the terrain.
The rows of seats dismantled in the Middle Ages could hold up to 26,000 spectators. The ancient public was offered gladiator fights , animal baiting and probably also naumachia , i.e. sea battles.
In the hypogeum below the arena, where the animal cages and the equipment and machinery required for the demonstrations were located, there is now a permanent exhibition on the history of oil and wine growing in Roman times. The styles and uses of amphorae and the ancient trade relations of Istria are also presented.
Building history
A first, probably still wooden, predecessor building is dated to the reign of Augustus , the first Roman emperor. A few decades later, probably under Emperor Claudius , the building was then carried out in stone. But the final stage of expansion is ascribed to Emperor Vespasian . According to legend, he, who also commissioned the Colosseum in Rome, wanted to honor his lover Antonia Caenis , who came from there, with the building in Pula . The emperor did not live to see the opening of the Colosseum ; it was celebrated in 80 AD under his son and successor Titus . Shortly afterwards, around 81 AD, the work in Pula will also have been completed.
Before that, in AD 78/79, the Via Flavia was built as a connecting road to Trieste ( Tergeste in Latin ) and Aquileia , where the amphitheater was located.
Due to its location about 200 meters outside Pula's city walls at that time, the large building has gained “freedom of breath”: “In terms of its function and as a building, it still belongs to the city, but it grows beyond it. The wall wreath still shines magnificently over the community, over the sea and the country, city and landscape crown in one, a landmark of the city by the sea. ”The four tower-like extensions are named as a special feature unknown from other amphitheatres:“ Rectangular from the Projecting round, they structure it and bring a defensive element into the festive monumental architecture ”. The towers contained stairwells made of wood, which offered an additional possibility to get into the upper gallery of the audience area. In addition, each tower had rainwater tanks, which were also used to sprinkle the audience on hot days; such "humidifiers" are known from some Roman theaters.
Another Roman engineering achievement was the velarium consisting of fabric panels and wooden poles . This served as a shade for the audience and was standard in most theaters and amphitheatres. In Pula there are 70 holes in the cornice , in which the wooden masts were stuck, and other fragments.
After the fall of the Roman Empire , most of the ancient monuments were used as quarries for new buildings, including the amphitheater in Pula. Its landmark character apparently at least protected its facade from dismantling. So only the inside of the building was cannibalized, whereby the spectator tiers and the supporting vaults disappeared. In 1260 and 1458 prohibitions were issued against this activity. The ancient ruins were last used as a stone spring in 1709 for the foundations of the bell tower of Pula Cathedral.
When a little later, spurred on by the excavations in Pompeii , Italy , interest in antiquity and its legacies began to stir throughout Europe, an awareness of monument preservation also developed . In the 18th and 19th centuries, the amphitheater in Pula was the subject of archaeological research and security measures for the first time .
In the early 1930s, part of the spectator stands with around 5000 seats on the east side were restored, and the arena has been used as a venue again since then.
Cultural events
In the recent past, the amphitheater has hosted a film festival, and in 1993 it was replaced by the Pula Film Festival and the cultural events of the Histria Festival . The historic arena with its brilliant acoustics is an ideal place for operas, concerts, theater and film. Musicians like Sting , Julio Iglesias , Luciano Pavarotti , Elton John , Zucchero , Anastacia , Norah Jones , Alanis Morissette and others performed here. In 1962, the building was used in the Italian sandal film One against Rome ( Solo contro Roma ) with the tiers completely occupied by extras as a location for those scenes that dealt with gladiator fights .
Ice hockey in the arena
In mid-September 2012, two ice hockey games of the Austrian Ice Hockey League took place in the arena for the first time in front of 7,130 spectators. Host KHL Medveščak Zagreb lost their first game against HDD Olimpija Ljubljana . Three days later the Vienna Capitals from Vienna were beaten 4-1. The outside temperature was 23 ° C in each case. The ice surface had the dimensions of 57 × 26 meters and was therefore one meter longer than prescribed by the international association. The ice was between six and eight centimeters thick. In order for it to remain stable and not break, 15,000 liters of diethylene glycol and 30,000 liters of water were required for the freezing process.
panorama
literature
- Štefan Mlakar: The amphitheater in Pula. (= Cultural and historical monuments in Istria 1). 10th, amended and supplemented edition. Archaeological Museum of Istria, Pula 1997, ISBN 953-6153-05-X .
Web links
- Building entry for the Pula amphitheater in the Arachne archaeological database
- Pola, Pula (region X). In: Amphi-Theatrum .
Individual evidence
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↑ a b c d Pula Arena # 9 , quoted from:
- Clifford Ando: The Matter of the Gods: Religion and the Roman Empire . University of California Press, 2008.
- M. Beard, S. Price, J. North: Religions of Rome: Volume 1, a History . Cambridge University Press, 1998.
- T. Cornell: The Beginnings of Rome: Italy and Rome from the Bronze Age to the Punic Wars (c.1000-264 BC) . Routledge, 1995.
- CMC Green: Varro's Three Theologies and their influence on the Fasti . In: Geraldine Herbert-Brown (Ed.): Ovid's Fasti: historical readings at its bimillennium. Oxford University Press, 2002.
- John Scheid: Graeco Ritu: A Typically Roman Way of Honoring the Gods . Harvard Studies in Classical Philology, Volume. 97. Integration, 1995.
- Barbette Stanley Spaeth: The Roman goddess Ceres . University of Texas Press, 1996.
- Barbette Stanley Spaeth: The Goddess Ceres and the Death of Tiberius Gracchus . In: Historia: Zeitschrift für Alte Geschichte , Volume 39, No. 2, 1990.
- TP Wiseman: Remus: A Roman Myth . Cambridge University Press, 1995.
- ↑ a b c Arheološki muzej Istre: Amphitheater. Retrieved June 2, 2019 .
- ^ Arheološki muzej Istre: An Exhibition in the Subterranean Section of the Amphitheater. Retrieved June 2, 2019 .
- ↑ a b c Gerd Rupprecht, Hubertus Mikler, Rüdiger Gogräfe: Pula. Retrieved June 2, 2019 .
- ↑ Helmut Castritius : The Flavian Family. Women next to Vespasian, Titus and Domitian . In: Hildegard Temporini-Countess Vitzthum (Hrsg.): Die Kaiserinnen Roms. From Livia to Theodora . CH Beck, Munich 2002, ISBN 3-406-49513-3 , p. 164-186, especially 165-166 .
- ↑ a b c d Augusta Hönle, Anton Henze: Roman amphitheater and stadiums. Gladiator fights and circus games . Raggi-Verlag, 1981.
- ↑ Pula Arena (# 9). In: Rome Across Europe. February 18, 2017. Retrieved June 3, 2019 (American English).
- ↑ Arachne - building 2108219: Amphitheater - Pula. Retrieved June 2, 2019 .
- ↑ Arena - amphitheater. In: Tourism Office Pula. Retrieved June 2, 2019 .
- ↑ Caps left the amphitheater as a loser. Retrieved May 23, 2015 .
- ↑ Ice hockey cracks instead of gladiators. Retrieved May 23, 2015 .
Coordinates: 44 ° 52 ′ 23 ″ N , 13 ° 51 ′ 1 ″ E