The Location and Significance of the Theater at Nicaea in the Context of Roman Theaters

The ancient city of Nicaea, located the Iznik district of Bursa, borders of the Ancient Bithynia. The city is located on important roads, made it an important center from the Hellenistic Period to the Ottoman Period. In the city where the Roman ruins under modern settlement, the only structure that has survived to this period is the theatre. The first information about the construction is taken from the Pliny letters. According to the letters, it is stated that the construction of the main units of the theater, the cavea and scaena, was completed in 111 AD, and new additions were planned to be made with the financial aid from sponsors. It represents the only example in Anatolia built completely independent of the ground, with its rows of seats raised using vault and arch technology, without any slope. In the theatre, which is thought to have been approximately 24 m. high and had a capacity of 10 thousand people, the trapezoidal vaults carrying the ima cavea, some of the barrel vaults carrying the media cavea, the substructure plan of the scaena, the piers carrying the summa cavea or portico, and the ambulacrum have been preserved. The differences it contains, when compared to other contemporary theaters built within the borders of the Roman Empire, put the building in a special location among Roman theatres. The Nicaea Theater, which was built with meticulous workmanship and has a hybrid plan, is a structure unique to Turkey and has the character of an architectural heritage in this respect.