Aydın, Sultanhisar

Amasya born traveller and geographer Strabo was educated in Nysa. His account of Nysa is as follows: “Nysa, located near Mount Mesogis, has spread onto the slopes of the mountain and become a twin city. It has been divided into two by a strait formed from floodwater and in one place the two cities are joined by a bridge. On one side of the town a secret canal to carry the floodwater is decorated with an amphitheatre. To the side of the theatre are two hills. At the foot of one of them is the gymnasium for the youth, and at the foot of the other are the agora and a gymnasium for older people. The plain extends to the south, as in Tralleis.”

The theatres of Bergama and Kyzikos are also built on a river. The reason for this is the low expenditure necessitated by making rows of benches for spectators on two banks. Another reason for building on a riverbed is the possibility of using a mechanism to dam the flow of the stream passing through a tunnel under the enclosed structure, as in the great “coliseum” in Rome, and fill the arena with rising water. Excess water could be sluiced off and performances could be held on the water.

Nysa theatre is on a gradient of 30 degrees on the slope in the north of the town. It has two levels. The cavea faces south. The row ends are decorated with lion leg reliefs. The carvings representing Dionysus on the facade of the stage building are much richer in theme than those in Perge and Hierapolis. In the two-tiered theatre 24 rows can be counted in the first tier and 25 in the second. In the first echelon there are ten radial stairways and in the second echelon there are nineteen. The width of the central walkway behind the benches with backboards is six feet. These seats with backboards are arranged to assist with the sound echo. The orchestra is 47 feet and 10 inches wide. Consequently, the height of the stage building must have been approximately 62 feet.