Antique Theatre

Architectural and prestigious place...

Exceptional witness of the Antiquity, ranked as part of World heritage’s of UNESCO, the Antique Theatre of Orange is the most conserved in the whole of Europe. Edified in the beginning of the Christian Era, it owes its reputation to the remarquable conservation of its stage wall.
It presents all the features of latin theatres according to "Vitruve" : the cavea (semicircle steps), lateral acces and the stage wall flanked by parascaenia.
Built to accomodate the gallo-roman public, it was there that the Roman culture and language were diffused.
9000 spectators could attend tragedies, comedies as well as dance shows, acrobatics and juggling.
Columns and many statues in the niches decorated the stage wall, at the origins. Burned in the 4th century, the theatre lost its principal function. Its location, at the foot of the hill, makes it an element of the city’s defences. As time goes by, the theatre is invaded by houses and became a real inhabited area.

...But also a place for the performing arts

We have to wait the 19th century to rediscover the antique theatre as a place for the performing arts.
Auguste Caristie, chief architect for the historical monuments, assures its restoration.
Nowadays, the Theatre welcomes about ten thousand spectators on the occasion of various summer events, one of which are the Choregies.

A glass-roof for a stone-theatre

Since June 2006, the UNESCO’s classified monument is a world-wide exclusivity : it is not only the only antique theatre with a stage-roof but also, the unique theatre in the World with a well-conserved stage-wall.

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