ANCIENT THEATER OF OHRID

Built around 200 BC, this theater (Антички Театар/Antički Teatar) is the only one in the country of Greek origin. The architects of Lychnidos took advantage of the relief to place the stands on the sides of two hills. This configuration offered good acoustics and protection against the wind. What to allow the spectators to benefit from the melodies of the chorus and the whispers of the actors during the representations of comedies or tragedies. The building was modified by the Romans between 140 and 70 B.C. to accommodate up to 5,000 spectators (which suggests that the city then had between 20,000 and 25,000 inhabitants) and gladiatorial and wild animal fights. After the Edict of Thessalonica in 380, which made Christianity the only legal religion in the Empire, the theater was destroyed. Many of its materials were used for the construction of houses, basilicas and, later, the cathedral of Saint Sophia. Rediscovered in 1960, the theater retains only part of the arena walls and its first twelve rows. Among the lowest stands, on the left when you are facing the bleachers, notice the names written in Greek: they are those of families of the local elite who had assigned seats. But the best view of the lake today is from the twelfth row. Since 2001, the theater has been renovated with a capacity of 1,700 seats. It hosts performances, especially during the Ohrid Summer Festival, from mid-July to mid-August.