• Photos and Panorama Movies • Theatre Archive Home • Glossary of Terms - The Roman Theatre at Acinipo, Spain:
- Those visiting Ronda or travelling to Seville should consider this detour. The impressive stone build entrance gate looks out of place as it leads into a farmyard complete with chained but friendly dogs.
- Don't be put off. Walk up the hill in the direction of the large monument past numerous large piles of stones marking the location of houses. The piles of stones were made by farmers over the ages to recover arable or grazing land area. There is a little evidence of excavation in this area named "Domus".
The ruins of this 32 hectare city are located at 1.000m above sea level. This is an urban are that thrived in the first century AD when it had a population of 5.000. It was mentioned in Plini and, inscriptions to Geninn Oppidi, to the god Marse and to Victoria Augusta have been found. The city even minted its own money, which features bunches of grapes. It later gave way to the town of Arunda where Ronda now sits, probably because the new site was easier to defend. Acinipo fell in 429 AD.
There was also a Bronze age settlement here between 1,100 and 750 BC. Near the car park the visitor can see the foundations of circular huts with the floor paving still in place. In one area a sign identifies the forum. Some large foundation stones and troughs can be seen. In this area excavations have found numerous buildings with emblems. This has lead archaeologists to believe that they must have belonged to public buildings.
Reaching the top of the escarpment behind the large monument, the visitor is suddenly rewarded with the sight of the Roman theatre, large enough to seat 2,000 people and in good condition - complete with an orange tiled orchestra pit and actors' changing rooms. It is suggested the theatre was started in 65 AD and completed about 200 AD. A modern steel stage has been constructed. In May 2001 The First Acinipo Festival of Classic Greek and Roman Theatre took place organised by the "Asociación Cultural de Teatro Grecorromano de Málaga" No information is available at the site. The casual tourist arriving at the entrance by car would not even realise the existence of the theatre and would miss this archaeological gem by deciding not to climb the hill to look behind the large monument visible from the entrance. The latest area to be excavated and partially restored is the "Thermas" or baths. These are located near the lower perimeter fence and can be visited on the way out.
Gil, John. History - The Ancient City of Acinipo. http://www.andalucia.com/history/acinipo.htm
- The Roman Theatre at Acinipo, Spain:
|
|
|
|
|
|
- Copyright © 2003 Thomas G. Hines, Department of Theatre, Whitman College. All Rights Reserved. The Ancient Theatre Archive is a non-profit, educational project, located at Whitman College, USA. Research and Publication Partially Funded Through Grants from Whitman College, The United States Institute for Theatre Technology, The Benson Foundation, and The National Endowment for the Humanities.
- © This website is copyright protected. Pages may be downloaded, printed, copied, and distributed as long as they remain unchanged and The Ancient Theatre Archive is given due credit.Last Update 11/20/2016.