Theater of Pompey - Hotel Lunetta

The Theater of Pompey was the first theater in Rome built in masonry (theatrum marmoreum).

It was located in the Campo Marzio area, today it belongs to the Parione district.

It was erected at the behest of the consul Pompeo between 61, the year of the third triumph and 55 BC. year of his second consulate, and it was an extraordinary innovation for Rome: Roman law in fact forbade the construction of masonry theaters, to maintain the religious character that the theater possessed from the Greek tradition; temporary wooden theaters were erected only near places of worship.

In the Middle Ages, this plant also became a quarry for building materials and the foundation for subsequent buildings.

The Orsini residences and the church of Santa Barbara dei Librai were built on the ruins of the cavea.

The profile of the cavea is still recognizable in the streets of Grottapinta, for the internal part, and in the path between via del Biscione and via dei Giubbonari for the external part.

Remains of the walls and the arches of the portico, as well as being included in the cellars of subsequent buildings, are visible in the underground rooms of the noble palaces in the area.

A part of the auditorium of the Theater can be seen in the corridors of today's Hotel Lunetta.

Map: Theater of Pompey - Hotel Lunetta