Serdica Amphitheater
The amphitheater of Serdica (Latin: Amphitheatrum Serdicense ) was an amphitheater in the ancient Roman city of Ulpia Serdica, now the Bulgarian capital Sofia . It was outside the city walls, 300 m from Serdica's east gate. The amphitheater was discovered in 2004 and partially exposed between 2005 and 2006. Its ruins lie in two adjacent places in the center of modern Sofia.
The late antique amphitheater was built in the 3rd to 4th centuries AD on the remains of another Roman theater, which came from the 2nd to 3rd centuries and had been destroyed by the Goths .
However, the Serdica amphitheater was only in use for less than a century. It was abandoned in the 5th century. The arena in Serdica was only ten meters smaller than that of the Colosseum . This made the Serdica amphitheater one of the largest in the eastern part of the Roman Empire and the largest in what is now Bulgaria . There, gladiator fights, fights with wild animals and animal baiting took place, which were advertised at the entrance to the city.
history
The Serdica amphitheater was built on the remains of an earlier Roman theater that was built in the 2nd or 3rd century AD. The ruins of this older theater were discovered five meters below the ruins of the amphitheater. The 55 meter wide theater was more than twice the size of the Roman theater of Philippopolis .
Roman theater
Serdica's older Roman theater may have been built at the same time as the city's defensive walls under Commodus (ruled 180-192). The theater was used during the reigns of Septimius Severus (ruled 193-211) and Caracalla (ruled 211-217). These two rulers could have attended the theater with their families in 202 or 209. In the first half of the year 268, attacking Goths destroyed the theater, which was unprotected at the gates of the city, and burned it down. The theater was given up forever.
Late antique amphitheater
Coin and ceramic finds, including a bronze medallion by Antinous, show that the amphitheater was built in two stages in the 3rd and early 4th centuries AD under the Roman emperors Diocletian (ruled 284–305) and Constantine the Great (ruled 306–337 ) built on the ruins of the old theater. It is believed that the amphitheater was expanded and reconstructed in the time of Constantine (approx. 324-330).
The amphitheater itself was in operation for less than a century. For the time being it is assumed that the amphitheater in Serdica lost its importance against the background of the reforms of Theodosius I (ruled 379–395) against the pagan cults and games and was gradually abandoned at the end of the 4th century.
The towering ruins of the massive structure were used as a seasonal military camp for the Byzantine army in the 6th to 7th centuries. It also served as a warehouse and at times as a refuge for the various peoples who attacked ancient Serdica. During the barbarian invasions in the 5th and 6th centuries, they built their houses in the area of the former amphitheater.
During the time of the Ottoman rule (late 14th to 19th centuries) it was used to extract building materials for house construction.
discovery
The existence of a Roman amphitheater in Serdica has been suspected since 1919, after a stone slab was found (where the stone slab was found today is the building of the Council of Ministers), on which the facade of an amphitheater as well as gladiator fights and animal hunting were depicted. On the stone slab crocodiles, bears, bulls and wild cats are depicted fighting. It is believed that this stone slab was placed at the entrance to the city of Serdica to herald this event. This stone slab is exhibited in the National Historical Museum of Bulgaria in Sofia.
The amphitheater itself was only discovered by chance in 2004, when construction work began on what would later become the “Arena di Serdica” hotel. In today's Sofia, the ruins lie south of Knjas Aleksandar Dondukow, between the headquarters of the Goethe Institute in Sofia and the Embassy of the United Kingdom.
The old theater below was discovered during excavation work on the sewers for the arena of the amphitheater.
During construction work on the foundations of the National Electricity Company in July 2006, further ruins came to light in the area. It did not become apparent that these new Roman finds were part of the great arena. The east gate of the amphitheater and the part that lies on the property of the hotel (it is one sixth of the total building area) have been preserved and integrated into the ground floor of the hotel.
The area is freely accessible to tourists during the day, except on Mondays. There is also a small exhibition of found objects (coins and ceramics). Since 2007, the west gate and the adjoining part of the amphitheater, which are located on the property of the National Electricity Company, have been excavated. There are protests against the planned construction of a building on this area.
description
Measuring 60.5 by 43 meters, the arena of the Serdica amphitheater was only ten meters smaller than the arena of the Colosseum in Rome. This made the amphitheater of Serdica one of the largest in the eastern part of the Roman Empire and much larger than the two other Roman amphitheaters in modern Bulgaria - in Diocletianopolis (today Chissarja ) and Marcianopolis (today Dewnja ). In terms of architecture, the Serdica amphitheater can be compared to the Lutetia amphitheater (Paris).
The amphitheater held 20,000 to 25,000 spectators. Like the arenas in the Mediterranean, the amphitheater in Serdica had an east-west orientation.
The podium for the high-ranking officials was in the southern part of the amphitheater, near what is now the National Art Gallery.
The amphitheater had two main entrances, one in the west and one in the east. They were connected by an underground water channel. The west gate was 3.5 m wide and probably spanned by a 5 m high arch.
The excavated and preserved ruins include the main entrance, the basement, parts of the main section with at least seven spectator seats and gates with sliding doors through which animals could be let into the arena.
At least part of the masonry was done in opus mixtum .
The finds include the bones of bears and wild boars, hundreds of bronze coins and clay blocks with the footprints of goats, dogs and cats.
literature
- Evgeni Paunov: Roman entertainment in Sofia-Serdica. In: Minerva. The International Review of Ancient Art & Archeology, May 19 / June 2007, ISSN 0957-7718 , pp. 40-41.
Web links
- ulpiaserdica.com (Engl.)
- Amphitheater of Serdica - History and Legend (Engl.)
- Ulphia Serdica, Sofia (Moesia). In: Amphi-Theatrum .
Coordinates: 42 ° 41 ′ 50.7 " N , 23 ° 19 ′ 41.9" E