Duderstadt Gallery: Section 6 - Theater

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DECORATION AND RENOVATION
The recent Turkish excavations of the theater uncovered architectural fragments and sculptural decorations that once adorned the stage building. The façade of the building, which formed a backdrop to the performances, probably had three stories of columns arranged around niches containing statues. Cornices and friezes ornamented with bulls’ heads and theater masks further enriched the visual effect and mirrored some of the decorations of the City Gate and Imperial Cult Sanctuary.
An inscription on an arch next to the theater claims that Marcus Valerius Diogenes, the first governor of the province of Pisidia, expanded the theater in the early 4th century AD. An early Christian peacock mosaic discovered in the stage building suggests that part of the theater had been converted into a church in its last period of use.

February 18, 2006
Digital Image
Courtesy of J. Matthew Harrington