Small Roman Theatre
With its captivating arhitecture , this small theatre will make you feel like a part of another time
Small Roman Theatre dates all the way back to the 1st century AD. It was built on the eastern slopes of the central hill, on the slope that had a good overlooking position for shows. Generally, using slopes as places for setting up auditoriums was a characteristic of Greek theatres, not Roman ones. The space of the theatre was divided into an architectural stage and a proscenium with actors, an orchestra, and an audience that had the capacity to accommodate between 4 to 5 thousand spectators, which was the entire population of Pula during those times. It was situated below the old Castrum, today known as Kaštel.
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The theatre was fairly bigger than the remains we can see today, considering that archeological research is still in progress. In addition to the Small Theatre, Pula also had Large Theatre, Extra Murros that was located farther from the city walls, on the slopes of Monte Zaro. Even though it was sufficiently bigger and it could welcome more viewers, it saw its destruction in the middle ages, and a significant amount of the remains has been used by Antonie De Ville in the 17th century in order to build Kaštel.
The foundations of the stage and part of the curved auditorium have maintained its originality and were only partially reconstructed. Nowadays, just like in ancient times, the Twin Doors is leading to the Small Theatre. Beneath is a building that was formerly German grammar school, and from 1930 it is a home to the Archaeological Museum of Istria that holds rich holdings of prehistoric, ancient, and early medieval archaeological monuments from all over the region of Istria.
The performances that commemorate the ancient Roman heritage of Pula were being held during the summer, but now the theatre is under the restoration because of the unstableness of the constructions.
