Anfiteatro de Catania

El Anfiteatro de Catania es un anfiteatro romano situado en Catania , Sicilia , en el sur de Italia , construido durante el período imperial romano, probablemente en el siglo II d. C., en el extremo norte de la antigua ciudad, al pie de la colina de Montevergine. Actualmente, solo se conserva una pequeña sección de la estructura, bajo tierra, al norte de la Piazza Stesicoro . Esta zona constituye hoy el centro histórico de la ciudad, pero en aquel entonces se encontraba en las afueras de la antigua ciudad y también albergaba la necrópolis de Catania . La estructura forma parte del Parque Arqueológico Greco-Romano de Catania .

El anfiteatro de Catania es el más complejo y grande de todos los anfiteatros de Sicilia. Forma parte de un grupo de grandes arenas, entre las que también se incluyen el Coliseo , el Anfiteatro de Capua y la Arena de Verona . La estructura se centraba en una arena elíptica, rodeada de muros radiales y bóvedas que sostenían las gradas de la cávea , la cual contaba con 14 escalones y 32 pasillos. Una galería recorría el exterior de la estructura, sobre la cual se asentaba la fachada exterior. La arena tenía un diámetro máximo de 70 metros y un diámetro menor de unos 50 metros, con una circunferencia de 192 metros. El diámetro exterior era de 125 x 105 metros, mientras que la circunferencia exterior era de 309 metros. Se utilizó opus vittatum para la construcción del interior y opus quadratum para el exterior. Los restos de las pilastras están hechos de opus quadratum con pequeños bloques de roca ígnea. La cávea se construyó con basalto del Etna , revestido de mármol. Los muros exteriores denotan cierta negligencia en la construcción. Los bloques están cortados de forma irregular y parecen haber sido reciclados en su mayoría. Los arcos exteriores están hechos con grandes ladrillos rectangulares de forma regular y mortero de buena calidad, mientras que los interiores son de hormigón , con grandes placas radiales.

Despite the overall sobriety of the building, the contrast between the colour of the very dark igneous rock of the walls and the red bricks of the arches must have been very striking. A note of class was added by the employment of marble, not only for the cladding of the podium, but also for some decorations, such as the herms on the sides of the main entrance. The main stairs were probably made of limestone, creating a strong interplay with the white of the seating and the black of the other stairways. A cover with large awnings to protect people from strong sun and rain probably existed.

From the theatre's dimensions it can be calculated to have held 15,000 spectators and almost double that number with the addition of wooden bleachers for standing spectators.^[1] According to an uncertain and unconfirmed tradition, it was intended that naumachiae (staged sea battles) take place in the amphitheatre, using the ancient Roman aqueduct of Catania to fill the arena with water.^[2]

Entrance

The excavated part of the amphitheatre is now accessed by an ironwork gate. In 1906 the gate was decorated with some fragments of marble columns which were originally part of the upper loggia, two fragmentary Ionic columns, and part of an architrave inscribed with AMPHITHEATRVM INSIGNE ("Eminent Amphitheatre"). The iron gate is at the centre, between the columns which have capitals, which support the architrave. The other two columns are located on either side, with stone walls in between with symbolic epitaphs of two illustrious ancient Greeks linked to this area (Charondas on the left and Stesichorus on the right), which were composed by the poet Mario Rapisardi. Tradition has it that their tombs are actually in the area of the amphitheatre.

The monument was probably built in the 2nd century AD. The exact date is uncertain, but the architectural style suggests some time between the Emperors Hadrian and Antoninus Pius. It seems clear that it was expanded in the 3rd century AD, tripling the structure's size.^[3]

A baseless popular legend claims that lava flows from the eruption of Etna in 252 reached the theatre but did not destroy it. This tradition derives from the life of Saint Agatha as reported in the Acta Sanctorum of Jean Bolland, where it is reported that in the specific year of the saint's death (251) lava flowed towards the gates of the city and the farmers, worried for their fields, went to the tomb of the saint, removed her funerary shroud and used it to stop the lava. Although this source is obviously hagiographical, it led vulcanologists like Carlo Gemmellaro to erroneously interpret the amphitheatre (which is near the city gates) as the point where the lava stopped. Recent stratigraphic studies have clearly shown that the rock identified as the 'lava flow of Saint Agatha' of 252 actually came from Monpeloso and flowed through the area of Nicolosi before cooling and solidifying in Mascalucia, about 450 metres above sea level. Thus, it moved toward Catania but never actually reached it.^[4] The sole traces of lava near the amphitheatre are a lava ledge which abuts one of the vaulted walls of the building. However, when a core was drilled into the walls of the internal walkway in the twentieth century in order to determine what was behind them, "wagonloads" of liquid flowed out,^[3] clearly indicating that the space behind is empty. The fragment of volcanic rock is very likely fill placed there in order to support the foundations of the facade of the Chiesa di San Biagio above it.

According to Cassiodorus, in the 5th century, Theodoric, King of the Ostrogoths, allowed the inhabitants of the city to spoliate the theatre for building material for the construction of stone buildings,^[5][6] on the grounds that the monument had been abandoned "for a long time."^[5] According to some authors, Roger II further spoliated the structure in the 11th century for the construction of Catania Cathedral, including the grey granite columns that decorate the cathedral's facade and the apses,^[7] in which perfectly cut stones can be seen,^[8] which may also have been used in the construction of the Castello Ursino in the Swabian period.

In the 13th century, according to tradition, the amphitheatre's vomitoria (entranceways) were used by the Angevins to enter the city during the Sicilian Vespers. In the following century, the entrances were walled up and the ruins were incorporated into the Aragonese fortifications (1302). In 1505, the civic senate granted Giovanni Gioeni a concession to use the monument's stone for the construction of houses and to use the arena itself as a garden.^[8] Measures were taken to secure the ruins in the construction of new fortifications in 1550: the first and second stories were knocked down and the galleries were filled in with the rubble. After the 1693 Sicily earthquake, it was finally buried, and the area was turned into a parade ground. Subsequently, the extrados of the galleries were used as the foundations of new houses and for the Neo-classical facade of the Church of San Biagio.

Desde la segunda mitad del siglo XVIII, el anfiteatro fue objeto de excavaciones arqueológicas. Sin embargo, los hallazgos no se conservaron: en su lugar, los arcos fueron tapiados y reutilizados en los edificios de la ciudad reconstruida. A principios del siglo XX, se emprendieron obras de renovación para abrir el sitio a los visitantes, como parte de la construcción de la Piazza Stesicoro . En 1943, durante el bombardeo aliado que redujo partes de la ciudad a escombros, la estructura se utilizó como refugio antiaéreo. Posteriormente, experimentó periodos de interés y abandono. Durante varios años, los túneles permanecieron cerrados por "razones de seguridad", tras trágicos accidentes ocurridos durante exploraciones. El anfiteatro fue renovado en 1997 y reabierto ese verano. Luego se cerró debido a la entrada de aguas residuales de las casas vecinas. Este problema se solucionó parcialmente y se reabrió al público en 1999, pero se cerró poco después debido a su deterioro.

Los restos, que representan aproximadamente una décima parte del anfiteatro, son visibles desde la entrada de la Piazza Stesicoro y desde el Vico Anfiteatro, donde la estructura se aprecia hasta el tercer piso. Hasta 2007, era posible ver parte del segundo piso en la Via del Colosseo, pero ahora está completamente cubierto por la nueva terraza de la Villa Cerami . Dentro de la villa, que actualmente alberga la Facultad de Derecho de la Universidad de Catania , aún se puede observar parte del sistema de bóvedas que unía el anfiteatro con la colina de Montevergine (probablemente la antigua acrópolis de la ciudad). El resto del anfiteatro se encuentra bajo las Via Neve, Via Manzoni y Via Penninello.

Las excavaciones de la época moderna temprana parecen ser la causa de la inestabilidad de la estructura, que en 2014 se anunció que corría peligro de derrumbe en un debate parlamentario y que ya había sido puesta en conocimiento público por CTzen. ^{[ 9 ]} El 24 de abril de 2014, se creó una comisión de expertos para organizar la recuperación del monumento y salvaguardar el barrio que se ha desarrollado sobre la estructura a lo largo de los siglos. ^{[ 10 ]}

El primer estudioso moderno en analizar el anfiteatro de Catania fue Tommaso Fazello , quien también determinó sus dimensiones. Posteriormente, autores como Ottavio D'Arcangelo y Giovanni Battista Grossi propusieron reconstrucciones fantásticas de la estructura , que, sin embargo, incluían los primeros estudios del edificio.

In the 18th century, Ignazio Paternò Castello expended substantial amounts of his own money on excavations, in order to establish beyond doubt that the amphitheatre had actually existed - a point that some visitors had strongly denied. Over a two-year period, he uncovered a whole corridor and four large arches of the external gallery.^[11] In the 19th century, these excavations could still be accessed from an entrance on the Via del Colosseo (which was and is popular known as 'Catania Vecchia') and all kinds of legends have become associated with it, such as the tale of a school group which snuck into the structure for a visit and never came out.

In 1904, during the administration of Mayor Giuseppe De Felice Giuffrida, work began to bring the whole structure to light, under the supervision of the architect Filadelfo Fichera. This project ended two years later. At this time, a broad and mysterious landing passage was discovered,^[12] probably a late extension of the building, which prevented those sat nearest to the arena from seeing the spectacles well and reduced the dimensions of the arena, but allowed a better view for an additional level, probably that added in the course of the 3rd century AD. In 1907, the opening ceremony was held, attended by king Victor Emmanuel III. Already by the Interwar period, the amphitheatre had been allowed to decay once more, to the extent that many of the buildings above were using the seating for sewerage.

In recent years, the amphitheatre has also been suddenly closed and reopened. At the end of 2007 and 2008, technical works were undertaken to determine the state of conservation of the external pilasters. On this occasion, it was possible to confirm that the structure had been renovated and expanded in a second phase. A subsequent investigation was then carried out which has been able to produce a virtual reconstruction of the structure.

• List of Roman amphitheatres

• Ignazio Paternò Castello , Viaggio per tutte le antichità della Sicilia , seconda edizione, postuma, Palermo 1817.
• Cesare Sposito, L'anfiteatro romano di Catania , Dario Flaccovio Editore, 2003.
• Francesco Giordano, L'Anfiteatro romano di Catania , Boemi Editore, Catania 2002.
• María Teresa Di Blasi, Il Cicerone. Historia, itinerario, leyendas de Catania , segunda edición, Edizioni Greco, Catania, 2007.
• Tino Giuffrida, Catania dalle origini alla dominazione normanna , Librería Editrice Bonaccorso, Catania.
• Pinella Leocata, "Riapre l'anfiteatro romano", La Sicilia , 10 de julio de 1999, CT31.
• AA.VV., Catania antica. Atti del Convegno della SISAC , Pisa-Roma 1996.
• Garruccio, Giovanni (1854). "Sulla origine e sulla costruzione dell'Anfiteatro di Catania, p. 27" . Consultado el 21 de octubre de 2015 .
• Ferrara, Francisco (1829). "Storia di Catania sino alla fine del secolo XVIII, págs. 292-298" . Catania . Consultado el 21 de octubre de 2015 .
• Branca, Tanguy. "Carta geologica del vulcano Etna. L'attività eruttiva dell'Etna negli ultimi 2700 anni, p. 112" (PDF) . Consultado el 21 de octubre de 2015 .
• Fabrizio Nicoletti (ed.), Catania Antica. Nuove prospettive di ricerca , Región Siciliana, Palermo 2015.

• " Il Filo di Arianna. Anfiteatro , Catania 1997" . Archivado desde el original el 26 de septiembre de 2010 . Consultado el 1 de febrero de 2018 .
• "Restitución tridimensional del monumento" .

37°30′27″N 15°05′07″E / 37.50737°N 15.08531°E / 37.50737; 15.08531