Elaiussa - Sebaste Theatre
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Mersin, Ayaş, Kumkuyu village
A former island, Elaiussa, has long since become attached to the mainland as a peninsula. The theatre is right by the road. The two-level theatre faces the bay in the south. There are six radial ways and the orchestra has a radius of 22 feet. It is estimated that the theatre consisted of a total of 23 rows of benches, 16 of which were below the central walkway and 7 of which were above it. The side walls of the two arched entrances opening onto the central walkway are still standing. The stage building is supported from beneath with arched, vaulted walls. The vaulted section in the basement of this building was probably used for water storage until the late Roman era. Moreover, there is a water channel with an insulated inner surface with three coats of plaster following the line of the hemisphere below the first row of the second level of the theatre. The construction of the building commenced in the second century AD and was completed at the time of Marcus Aurelius and Lucius Verus (AD 161-169). The theatre fell into disuse after the third century.
It has a capacity of approximately 2,350
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