Ancient Theatre of Ascra (Theatre of the Muses)

The theatre where artistic games were held in honour of the Muses was built at the foot of Mount Helicon.

The length of its stage, 22.20 metres, seems to be longer than that of Epidaurus, which has a diameter of 20 metres. The theatre dates from the end of the 3rd century BC or the beginning of the 2nd century BC. It was built for the needs of the musical and theatrical games that took place in the grove during the anniversary celebrations in honour of the Muses. The spectators were seated in rows of seats dug into the mountainside. Only the first row of seats, reserved for the dignitaries, was made of marble. Today only the stage and the proscenium of the theatre survive.

The athletic events in this theatre involved the orator, the rapsodist, the piper and the
guitarist who took part in the Pythian games, the cyclic piper, the tragedian, the guitarist, the dancer and others, as the inscribed words on the column supporting the interior of the church of Saint Nicholas, which we will visit later, show.

The athletic games or the Museums, started from the site of the sanctuary of the Muses where a sacrifice was made to Lino and the procession then ascended to the theatre crossing the sacred street. The visitors' camp was on the right, on the slope of Koursara. It was at this point that Plutarch wrote his “Erotikos”.

In Christian times, the church of the Holy Trinity was erected on the site of the sanctuary of the Muses, which was demolished by the excavators. In the area there was also a temple of Apollo which was on the road opposite the iconostasis. In its place the church of Saint Catherine was built, which was also demolished by the excavators in order to get the stones with the inscriptions.