29.04.2009 The Roman Stadium in Plovdiv to be Restored

culture.actualno.com

The Roman stadium in Plovdiv is going to be restored. The funding for its restoration will be provided by the Financial Mechanism Committee with the European Economic Area under a project of the regional administration of the city of Plovdiv, Monitor Daily writes.

The idea is an underground museum of Philipopol (the ancient name of the city) to be set up by organizing archeological excavations, building and conservation activities and to reveal the spectator stands. This way the city will become an even more attractive tourist center.

The Roman stadium of Philipopol is located west of the Dzhumaya mosque. Part of the construction (250x74 meters in size) is located underground as its entrance is under the main boulevard Knyaz Alexander I. The spectators’ seats are set in 14 marble rows as they are decorated with embossed pillars chiseled in the shape of a lion leg.

The stadium’s main part is the race track. One can also see the lower parts of the columns of the ancient aqueduct which supplied the big reservoir of Taxim Tepe (Taxim hill) with water from the Rhodopi Mountains.

The ancient stadium has about 30,000 seats and was one of the most impressive structures in ancient Plovdiv.

Archeologists assume that the aristocrats in ancient Philipopol lived at the foot of Dzambaz Tepe (Dzambaz hill) because of the numerous findings discovered under the southeastern slopes of the area. This was probably one of the richest quarters in the ancient town.

Plovdiv’s central part is abundant in archeological sites which include the ancient forum with its public buildings and library and the Episcopal basilica from IV-V century.

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