Odeon of Herodes Atticus

The Odeon of Herodes Atticus sits at the southwest foot of the Acropolis and is an ancient semicircular theatre for about 5,000 spectators. The wealthy Athenian Herodes Atticus endowed the building in AD 161 in memory of his deceased wife Aspasia Annia Regilla; he also paid for the marble seating and for the timber roof over the auditorium, unusual at the time. The three-storey marble arcade of the scaenae frons still stands today. After the Herulian sack of AD 267 the structure lay abandoned for centuries until excavations from 1857 onward, with full restoration in 1950 for the newly founded Athens Festival. From June to September symphony orchestras, opera companies and stars from Maria Callas to Sting perform on stage with the Acropolis directly behind. By day the Odeon can only be viewed from above on the Dionysos slope, not entered.