Ancient Stadium of Philippopolis

Last crawled date: 3 years, 11 months ago

The Stadium of Philippopolis was built in the beginning of 2nd century AD during the reign Emperor Hadrian. It is situated in the Northern part of the fortified city surrounded by defence walls, in the natural terrain between Taksim Tepe and Sahat Tepe. The facility, approximately 240 meters long and 50 meters wide, could seat up to 30 000 spectators. The spectators seats are tiered in 14 rows, crossed by stepped aisles down to the track. The seats are made of solid marble blocks (40 cm high and 75 cm wide) and the front parts are decorated with stylized lion paws. At Dzhumaya Square is exhibited in situ the northern curved part of the Stadium (sfendona). Under the tiered rows of seats (cavea), a covered vaulted passage was found. It connected the track with a corridor dug in the terrain. The vault supported the royal seats above it. North of the corridor a section of the fortress wall built back in 2nd century AD was found. It had undergone certain readjustments in 3rd and 4th century AD. In the 4th century AD this area was crossed by an ancient aqueduct. It was pronounced a national cultural value in 1995. The visible part of the stadium was completely rennovated in 2012. #ancient #antique #aqueduct #archeology #art #balkan #building #bulgaria #byzantium #dome #elevator #empire #gallery #glavna #glavnata #historic #history #main_street #minaret #mosque #museum #muslim #old #ottoman #plovdiv #remains #renaissance #rock #roman #rome #ruins #square #stadium #stairs #stone #temple #turkey #viaduct #wall