Ensayis

GROUND FLOOR
Interactive information points in the lobby provide details of the Caesaraugusta Route as well as information about other museum services. The visit begins with a summary in images and documents of the history of the archaeological excavations carried out over a period of thirty years. Seven panoramic views show the intense occupation of the theatre site and its historicalevolution.

IV
Monument

THE MONUMENT
II
After visiting the basement, there are two itineraries to walk round the Monument. The first is the crypta (gallery) and the second is the stage platform from which the building, that once stood 25 metres high, can be appreciated in all of its grandiosity. Three-dimensional reconstructions help visitors to imagine that they are inside the different areas thatformed the Theatre of Caearaugusta.

VI V

III

II Audiovisual presentation Time and memory III The Theatre of Caesaraugusta IV Visit to the Monument

Porticus in summa gradatione Summa cavea Media cavea

Parascaenium Aditus

Quadriporticus

V Theatre life VI The site, a witness of History

Scaenae frons

Situla adornment, 1st century A.D.

Praecinctio

PulpitumAudiovisual presentations: The virtual theatre

Ima cavea

Orchestra

Pitcher. 14th century

I The discovery of the Theatre The Caesaraugusta Route Lobby Café and museum shop Toilets Alabaster Box, 11th century

FIRST FLOOR
A virtual theatre shows visitors different kinds of performances that may have been staged in a city of the Roman Empire. The theatre, as a cultural fact, is analysed throughdrama genres, playwrights and actors, as well as through the participation of the general public and the social and political life of the time. The visit continues with the historical evolution of the site since the activity of the theater ceased to the present day. Scenes of different domestic settings from Muslim, Jewish and Christian epochs are presented to visitors giving a good idea of theaspects that these cultures had in common and those which differentiated them.

I

BASEMENT
An audiovisual projection invites us to go back in time, from the discovery of the theatre in 1972 to the Roman era, recalling scenarios and persons who inhabited this site. A large-scale model and three-dimensional recreation gives us an initial idea of the theatre as a building. The elements set outin this room which sits on the visible foundations of the quadriportico, help us to understand the architectural, decorative and functional aspects of this theatre, highlighting points of special interest.

Entrance on San Jorge Street

ROUTE Stage platform Gallery

THE CAESARAUGUSTA ROUTE
Several public buildings from Roman Zaragoza have been discovered, the most important of which is theTheatre, due to its state of conservation. For more than two hundred years it was a meeting place, a relevant point for social life for both the city and its surrounding area, playing a significant role in transmitting the cultural, political and religious values of the Roman Empire. Its location, at the highest point of the city meant that it commanded an urban axis of monuments from the Ebroriver to the Coso of which important archaeological remains are on display in different municipal museums: the Forum as the city’s nerve centre, the River Port, a channel of trade and commerce, the Public Baths, a place for personal hygiene and leisure. The museums devoted to each of these buildings, together with the Roman walls, form the Caesaraugusta Route, an itinerary which has been carefullydesigned as an essential instrument for learning more about our Roman past.

4 CAESARAUGUSTA THEATRE MUSEUM
San Jorge, 12 • 50001 Zaragoza Tel. 976 205 088 museoteatro@ayto-zaragoza.es Web: www.ayto-zaragoza.es/museoteatro

HISTORICAL BACKGROUND
The Roman Theatre was discovered by chance in 1972 when the construction of a new building in Verónica street began. The theatre, built in the 1st...