GREECE PELOPONNESE MESSINIA MESSENE

Ancient City of Messene

Ancient Messene:

Above: A view from Mavromati to ancient Messene. - The continuing excavations and restoration works, begun in 1895, reveal more and more of the ancient city. Therefore, my photographs taken in 2007 do not present the current, much improved and expanded situation at the site. But even in 2007, Messene appeared as a significant site in terms of its size and the state of preservation, and it was clear that it still had much to offer. This is especially due to the peculiarity that ancient Messene was never destroyed or covered by later settlements.

First thing you see as you enter the site is the theatre with its fort-like exterior structures. It has a width of 100 m, with an orchestra of 23.50 m. It was mainly used for large-scale political assemblies. The cavea was built on an artificial hill with strong retaining walls, of which the western ones (above right) are best preserved. The entrances (above left) led to stairways with access to the theatre's cavea.

The now visible remains of the orchestra with multi-coloured marble floor and the skene originate (of course) from the Roman Imperial period when the original Hellenistic plan was radically altered.