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Ancient Theater of Amvrakia (small)

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The small theatre of Amvrakia is the smallest of all ancient Greek theatres uncovered to date. It is located at the center of the ancient city, in some distance from the late archaic temple of Apollo. It is dated between the late fourth – early third century BC, during the reign of Pyrhus.

In contrast to most ancient Greek theatres, the small Theater of Amvrakia was not built on a natural incline, but rested on a filled slope. The backfill included older constructions: the foundations of houses dating to the 5^thcentury BC and baths dating to the 4th century BC. The floors of the baths, made of small black and white river or sea pebbles depicted dolphins, an Erotideus (young Eros) stretching his hand to a swan, another blowing a conch.

With the passage of time, the small theater of Amvrakia was in turn covered by other buildings, possibly byzantine, ottoman, recent. Excavations uncovered it in 1976. It has since remained visible, a significant memento of the ancient city that has risen from below modern day Arta.

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Ancient Theater of Amvrakia (small)

Deposits by Citizens Finances

Name	Date	Amount (€)
Savvoula Nikolou		100.00

Total

€100.00

Balance

€100.00

In June 2009 the President of Diazoma, Mr Stavros Benos, visited the Ancient Theatre of Amvrakia in the framework of his tour of the ancient theatres of Preveza and Arta, and held meetings with local bodies.(see here)
‘DIAZOMA’ has opened a “piggy bank” (an electronic bank account) for the ancient theatre of Amvrakia.(see here).
The promotion of the theatre was incorporated to the 2007-2013 NSRF, with €2,000,000 of funding. The sub-project of the broader project ‘Promotion – unification of the archaeological sites of ancient Amvrakia in the city of Arta, Municipality of Arta: western necropolis, temple of Apollo, and small theatre’.
During the excavation works a ceramic furnace from the Byzantine period was revealed, which was created very close to the koilon of the ancient theatre. The drainage system of the ancient city was also revealed beside the ancient theatre.
The goal is to construct a small footbridge over the ancient theatre, which will provide visual contact with the ancient theatre, while also leading to a pleasant archaeological walk throughout the other monuments of ancient Amvrakia, creating an archaeological site that is organically incorporated into the life of the modern city.
Through the ‘Cultural route of the ancient theatres of Epirus’ programme, the ‘Works for the promotion and shaping of the archaeological site of the Small theatre of Ancient Amvrakia’ project, with a budget of €749,400, was incorporated into the 2014-2020 NSRF Operational Programme ‘Epirus 2014-2020’.
The Ephorate of Antiquities of Arta commissioned Mr. Nikos Hatzidakis to conduct the monument’s restoration study.
The study was completed and submitted to the Ephorate of Antiquities of Arta.
Through the “Ancient Theatres of Epirus Cultural Route” programme, the “Works for the promotion and redevelopment of the archaeological site of the Small Theatre of ancient Amvrakia” project, with a budget of €667,870 was incorporated into the 2014-2020 NSRF Operational Programme “Epirus 2014-2020”. With this funding, the excavation works at the theatre are being completed, and works for the enhancement and promotion of the monument will also be undertaken. The project includes two subprojects. The first one is entitled “Enhancement and promotion work for the archaeological site of the Small Theatre of ancient Amvrakia” and is being implemented by direct labor by the Ephorate of Antiquities of Arta. The second subproject, entitled “Works to support the slopes of the archaeological site of the Small theatre of ancient Amvrakia” is being implemented by the Region of Epirus. The last amendment to the project (December 2020) concerned increasing the total budget to 966,667.96 euros and extending the project’s completion time until December 2022.
in 2021, the Municipality of Arta demolished two adjacent low buildings to create a large open space that would operate as a space for the public to stop, gather, and as an information point. Following the demolition of the buildings, excavations were carried out in the area, and new archaeological finds related to the theatre’s archaeological site surfaced. The works are in progress and are expected to be completed soon. Once works are completed, the courtyard of the Church of St. Constantine will be suitably refurbished along the same principles.
The contractor of the “Works to support the slopes of the archaeological site of the Small Theatre of ancient Amvrakia” subproject being implemented by the Region of Epirus has been on site since 1 July 2021, and works are in progress. The subproject being implemented by the Ephorate of Antiquities of Arta (“Enhancement and promotion work for the archaeological site of the Small Theatre of Ancient Amvrakia”) depends to a large extent on the works to support the slopes being completed, as the progress of works is interrelated. However, market research is underway, as well as preliminary works to restore the ancient theatre’s ruins, the construction of a path circling the archaeological site, the transfer of the utilities’ infrastructure outside the archaeological site, and the other works provided for by the project.
On Tuesday, 28 July 2020, the aforementioned study was approved by the Central Archaeological Council (KAS). (CURRENT STATE)
Restoration works on the monument are expected to commence, funded by the NSRF 2014- 2020 (“Ancient Theatres of Epirus Cultural Route”). (NEXT STEP)