Theatre of Dionysus

The birthplace of Greek tragedy
Word to the wise: The Theatre of Dionysos is tucked around the corner of the Acropolis site and is often mistaken for the more fully restored Theatre of Herodes Atticus on route to the Parthenon.

Noteworthy for: Greek officials have plans to partially restore the theatre for completion around 2015.
Sitting on the stone steps you can imagine the masterpieces of Sophocles, Euripides and other great tragic playwrights being performed in front of you surrounded by 17,000 fellow spectators. This major open-air theatre is incredibly evocative of the daily lives of Greeks and would have played a major role in society. In Classical times, each citizen would have had a turn at being a member of the chorus and an annual festival was held here in honour of the god of wine Dionysus, the patron of drama.

Built around 4BC, the marble thrones you see at the front once had the name of the dignitaries for which they were reserved engraved into them and the grand throne in the middle was for the priest of Dionysus. A fall from grace befell it in Roman times, when it was used for crude amphitheatre amusement. By the Byzantine period, it began a slow deterioration.