Ancient Theater of Zea in Piraeus

The ancient Theater of Zea is located in the building block of Philellinon, Alkiviadou, Char. Trikoupi and Neosoikon Streets in Pasalimani and has direct contact with the building of the Archaeological Museum of Piraeus. The theater was built in Macedonian times (beginning of the 3rd century BC) and had as a model the great Athenian Theater of Dionysus. The monument has the typical tripartite organization of a Hellenistic theater, i.e. auditorium, orchestra and stage building. Its orientation is southeast and the well-known pale yellow Piraeus stone Aktitis was used for its foundation. Its auditorium was partly built on the natural rock. In its upper part, where there was no natural rock, the seats of the auditorium were based on an artificial stone foundation, which was covered with soil. A stone conduit existed between the auditorium and the orchestra for water drainage purposes. The orchestra is horseshoe-shaped and carved into the rock. The stage building is preserved at the foundation level, very low to the ground, and develops into a rectangular plan of 36 m in length and 4.80 in width. In its front wall there would have been doors to connect the stage with the inner space of the proscenium. The proscenium is flanked by two backstage areas, while no traces of doors can be discerned. Between the auditorium and the backstage areas two aisles leading to the orchestra were formed. The theater area was an open square until the beginning of the 20th century.