Bath houses
Bath House Complex
26 October, 2009
Bath houses
Roman Road and Additional Bath Houses
26 October, 2009
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Amphitheatre

salamis
salamis amphitheatre

Amphitheatre | Salamis | Famagusta

Walking from the bath house complex down a paved columned street, there is a partially excavated area on the right. This is the site of the amphitheatre where excavations where abandoned in 1974.

The outer walls of the theatre are clearly visible and only half of the original structure has been rebuilt. The solid structure of today would have been supplemented by more tiered seating with an auditorium of between forty and fifty rows. The foundations of the buttresses that supported the additional seating are to be seen at the rear of the theatre. There are now nineteen tiers divided by eight rows of steps with a central section that has a larger seating area and was most likely for use by the city dignitaries. The stage area is impressively large measuring 120ft (37m) wide, with an area of dressing rooms at the back now sadly overgrown by mimosa bushes. The orchestra measures 85ft (26m) in diameter and would have had a floor of opus sectile paving.

Lavinia Neville Smith
Lavinia Neville Smith
Lavinia Neville Smith first came to North Cyprus in 1995, and fell in love with the country and the Turkish Cypriot people. A self confessed dilettante, with a varied working career, it was not until she returned in 1997 and went into tourism that she was able to put to good use her knowledge of history, ancient and modern, acquired long ago at school. She is a co-author of the Landmark Visitors Guide to North Cyprus, and continues to promote this beautiful country as far afield as possible.