Croatia's Ministry of Culture and Media announced the discovery of an ancient Roman theater, or odeon, beneath the City Hall of Sisak during renovations following the 6.4 magnitude earthquake that struck the area on December 29, 2020, according to Fox News.
The City Hall of Sisak, built in 1914, suffered severe damage in the earthquake, leading to restoration efforts that unexpectedly revealed the ancient structure, as reported by Enikos. During the renovation of the building, workers and archaeologists uncovered remains of the Roman odeon in the basement.
Restoration work unveiled the semicircular stone structure of the theater, identified as the orchestra. The structure consists of three parallel rows of stone blocks with an internal diameter of approximately 20 meters. The stones form the semicircular shape of Roman theaters, according to the New York Post.
Croatia's Ministry of Culture and Media described the structure as apsidal, meaning it resembles a semicircular or polygonal recess. "The structure is arched, consisting of three parallel rows of stone blocks with an internal diameter of twenty meters," the ministry stated, as reported by Fox News.
Officials commended the discovery, calling it an "extremely valuable find," according to the New York Post. "This provides new insight into the size of the ancient city and further complements the interpretation of the urbanism of ancient Sisak," the ministry stated, as per the New York Post.
"The renovation restored its original coloring, the design of the main entrance carpentry, and the original appearance of the main gable," the ministry's statement added, as reported by Fox News. During the renovation, elements of the theater were preserved in situ and are partially visible through a glass floor. Pictures of the discovery show fragments of the ancient building visible under the glass floor, according to Enikos.
The renovated City Hall now displays elements of the theater through the glass floor, allowing visitors to see the ancient remains. "All preserved decorative elements were restored, and the original paving was presented in front of the entrance to the town hall itself," the ministry stated, as reported by the New York Post.
The discovery surprised archaeologists, as the existence of the theater had been forgotten. Authorities noted that it provided new elements about the Roman city of Siscia, reports Enikos.
In later periods, a building with buttresses was constructed above the odeon, requiring further archaeological research in the City Hall's courtyard for understanding and interpretation of the space, according to Enikos.
Roman Siscia, today's Sisak, was founded around 35 BCE on a Celtic and Illyrian settlement. Initially, Siscia was a military camp and evolved into an economic and administrative center with its own mint. For a short time, it was one of the four capitals of the Roman Empire before declining around the mid-5th century CE, reports Enikos.
"This architectural structure is characteristic of odeons of the Roman period," the ministry said, according to Enikos. In ancient Greece and Rome, an odeon was a relatively small theater designed for musical and rhetorical performances.
The article was written with the assistance of a news analysis system.