Epidauros

The Theater with the astonishing acoustic properties



The perfection of sound

Epidaurus
reputed to be the birthplace of Apollo's son Asclepius, the healer.
The Asclepieion at Epidaurus was the most celebrated healing center of the Classical world.
Asclepius, the most important healer god of antiquity, brought prosperity to the sanctuary.In 87 BC the sanctuary was looted by the Roman general Sulla, and in 67 BC, it was plundered by pirates. In the 2nd century AD, the sanctuary enjoyed a new upsurge under the Romans, but in AD 395 the Goths raided the sanctuar.

The Theater that delighted Pausanias for its symmetry and beauty,was designed by Polykleitos the Younger in the 4th century BC. The original 34 rows were extended in Roman times by another 21 rows. It seats up to 15,000 people.
The theatre is marveled for its exceptional acoustics, which permit almost perfect intelligibility of unamplified spoken word from the proscenium to all 15,000 spectators, regardless of their seating.A study of the Georgia Institute of Technology indicates that the astonishing acoustic properties are either the result of an accident or the product of advanced design.The rows of limestone seats filter out low-frequency sounds, such as the murmur of the crowd, and amplify/reflect high-frequency sounds from the stage.
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