Teatro Romano, Antiquarium e percorso archeologico di Gubbio

Why it matters

Gubbio's Roman theatre was begun in the first century BC and completed between 55 and 20 BC. Its scale reflects the civic importance of Roman Iguvium. The structure was later damaged, reused as a fortified outpost and partly incorporated into medieval buildings.

What to notice

The theatre's cavea was divided into four sections and could hold more than six thousand spectators. Limestone blocks with rusticated surfaces form the lower order of arcades and parts of the upper order. The orchestra paving drains toward a cistern beneath the stage. The nearby Antiquarium preserves a geometric mosaic depicting Ulysses and Scylla, as well as ceramics from the San Biagio necropolis.

Context and history

After antiquity, the structure was reused as a Byzantine fortified outpost, then occupied by a monastery and later by houses. Excavations in the eighteenth century uncovered evidence of destruction during the Lombard conquest. Systematic restoration in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries cleared much of the structure. The nearby discovery of the Eugubine Tables in 1444 connects the area with a major event in Gubbio's archaeological history.