Odeon of Herodes Atticus Greece

Legendary

Built in 161 AD, this Roman theater had a capacity of up to 5000 people.

Photo by Weekend Wayfarers

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Herodes Atticus was one of the richest men in the Roman world, and in 160 AD his wife Regilla died. He built this theater in her memory, carved into the rock right below the Acropolis.

It was finished in 161 AD and cost him a fortune. He didn't seem to care.

The building was a Roman odeon, a smaller theater designed for music rather than plays. It held about 5,000 people on steep marble seats curved around a half-circle stage.

The stage wall rose three stories and was decorated with statues and arched windows. A roof of cedar wood from Lebanon covered the whole thing, which was rare for a theater this size.

The odeon lasted barely a century. In 267 AD, a Germanic tribe called the Heruli attacked Athens and burned it down.

The roof collapsed and the walls were left standing open to the sky. For the next 1,700 years the ruins were used as part of the city's defensive walls and slowly buried in dirt.

Archaeologists dug it out in 1857 and 1858. Then in the 1950s, Greece rebuilt the seating in white Pentelic marble and gave the theater back its original job.

Since 1955 it has hosted the Athens Epidaurus Festival every summer. The opera singer Maria Callas performed in one of the first seasons, and the list since then includes Luciano Pavarotti, Frank Sinatra, and Elton John.

The odeon closed for a major restoration at the end of 2025. Work is planned to raise the stage, repair the entrances, and uncover the ancient mosaic floor.

Look down into the theater from the path along the south slope of the Acropolis, where the view shows the full half-circle at once. Notice the three-story stage wall, which is still mostly original Roman stonework. Check the festival website before your trip, since performances will return once the restoration is finished.