The Roman theatre of Verona with a church in its seat

The Roman theatre of Verona was built in the late 1st century BC. Before its construction, two walls were built alongside the Adige River, between the Ponte di Pietra and the Ponte Postumio, to protect the site against floods. Today, the remains of the edifice include the cavea and the steps, several arcades of the loggias, and remains of the stage. At the top of the hill, there was also an ancient temple built on a series of terraces.

What is most curious is how the site was repurposed over the centuries. In the 10th century, part of the cavea was occupied by the church of S. Siro, which was later restored in the 14th century. The site remained largely hidden until remains were recovered starting around 1830. The visible ruins include the arcades and the remnants of the stage.

The museum on-site holds several mosaics and artefacts from the area. These include a third-century A.D. polychrome mosaic from a house in Piazza Bra, depicting the god Bacchus with a panther and the inscription 'Roropes Zeta'. Another third-century mosaic shows gladiatorial scenes with inscriptions identifying the fighters and the outcomes of their combats. The museum also displays marble decorations of a satyr and lead pipes from ancient aqueducts.

During nineteenth-century excavations, fragments from several sphinxes were discovered, which likely marked the end of rows of seats. From these fragments, a single sphinx was recreated by Andrea Monga. These pieces, along with the recovered arcades and the remains of the stage, provide a window into the architectural history of the city.

Sources: Wikipedia, OpenStreetMap, Wikidata, Wikimedia Commons