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Odeon of Herodes Atticus
Athens, Greece
Mike's review
Visited 2019The Odeon is one of the best Acropolis-side views because it still looks usable. From above, the seating and stage make the Roman theater shape immediately clear, and the modern festival use keeps it from feeling sealed off as pure ruin.
I liked seeing it before the plateau fully took over the visit. It is a good reminder that Athens kept adding major layers after the classical period.
From the source
The Odeon of Herodes Atticus is the steep stone auditorium below the southwest side of the Acropolis. Herodes Atticus built it between 160 and 174 CE in memory of his wife, Regilla. The Roman music hall seated about 4,800 people, had a three-story stage wall, and was at least partly covered by a timber roof.
Fire damaged the building during the Herulian invasion in 268. Excavation and rebuilding in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries returned the auditorium to use, and it became the principal venue of the Athens Festival in 1955. The interior normally opens for scheduled performances rather than daytime sightseeing. During an Acropolis visit, the clearest general view is from the paths above the auditorium.
Supporting sources: Legacy import provenance, Wikipedia
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