"Ancient Marble Theater of Milos Part II" Top 5 Page for this destination Milos Island Things to Do Tip by andreasfmpro

(Continued from Part I)

Ancient Marble Theater of Milos - Part II

When the Vénus de Milo (Aphrodite of Milos) was discovered 4 years later in a field near the theater, Ludwig claimed -albeit unsuccessfully- the statue from France, on the grounds that it had been found on his property. Later, in 1836, Ludwig, now as King, came to Milos together with his son Othon (Otto) King of Greece, to whom he ceded the theater at that time.

Roughly a century later, during WWI, when the French used Milos as a naval base, the French military governor of the island carried out a further cleaning up of the theater to make it accessible to the public and put it to use for various events such as displays by schoolchildren from the nearby Trypiti school, wrestling matches of the then (1930) Milos Sportsmen’s Union, and, more recently, theatrical performances, concerts, etc.

Today the ancient marble theater of Milos retains only seven tiers of seats, with an audience capacity of about 700. A cavea directly above, stripped of its marble seats, seems capable to have accommodated ten times that number. Various architectural findings from the stage, of exceptional artistry and with Asia Minor influences strongly reminiscent of the theater of Ephesus, remain scattered over the excavated orchestra.

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Address: Milos, baby!
Directions: West of the village of Trypiti, close to the discovery site of Venus de Milo (Aphrodite of Milos) and the Catacombs of Milos.
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Website: http://www.milos-island.com/