After eleven full years of being closed, the ancient theater of Thassos, one of the oldest in Greece, reopens to the public in mid-May, following the completion of extensive restoration and restoration work on the hollow (which began in 2018 and completed a few months ago).

The final result really impresses the visitor as it was completely clad in the famous white marble mined in the island’s quarries.

The theater – built in the 4th century BC. on the slopes of a hill to the east of the ancient city of Thassos (the current capital of the island, Limenas), with an unparalleled view of the sea – restored to the phase it was in during Roman times.

In fact, the hollow of the theater was excavated from foundations in order to restore past damages, to solve static issues, to complete important infrastructures that would ensure its rescue and ultimately contribute to its modern function as a space that can host again cultural and artistic events.

The benches were restored with white marble from the island’s quarries

“The restoration work of the hollow turned out to be extremely problematic and much more extensive than originally anticipated,” explains the project supervisor, archaeologist Constantina Panousi, speaking to APE-MBE, and continues: “29 series of infrastructures were rebuilt , instead of 13 originally planned, work was carried out on 177 ancient pews in the upper undisturbed zone and 622 modern and ancient pews and 147 modern steps were installed in the main restoration zone, which occupies 29 rows of pews in eight stands separated by seven steps. The final set of interventions in the hollow of the ancient theater of Thassos concerns 1,039 architectural members”.

Among the most important tasks to be done was the recording and identification of the ancient members of the theatre, which were re-installed.

Broken ancient pews were supplemented with cast material and where there was no ancient material, members made of all-white island marble were placed.

Work continues

In the next period of time, it is expected that the crane, with the help of which the seats were placed, will be removed from the interior of the ancient theater, so that the work of coating the orchestra can then be completed.

The ancient theater will be partly open to visitors, mainly in its hollow, since the work will continue inside it, however visitors will have the opportunity to admire the restoration work done up close.

It should be noted that until 2013, when the theater was permanently closed in order to start the work, the theater seats were wooden, resting on metal platforms, which were installed in the 1990s. The ancient theater of Thassos, all the previous years went through several phases of maintenance, until in November 2018, the final works of the complete restoration of the hollow began. In the past, however, it hosted large and important cultural events, such as the events within the Philippi – Thassos Festival.

The reopening of the ancient theater caused feelings of satisfaction in the municipality of Thassos. Mayor Lefteris Kyriakidis, speaking to APE-MBE, considers the fact that the monument will now be open to visitors very important and notes that the intention of the municipality’s administration is to host events there, when conditions allow.

The ancient theater of Thassos is once again ready to “speak” to the thousands of spectators, conveying its history, adventures and the path it has taken over time. It is this story that the ancient names of dozens of people and families of the island, which are engraved on the marble benches of the hollow, bear witness to the continuous progress of the monument through the centuries.