The Roman Amphitheatre is one of Alexandria’s most popular monuments.
The word Kom El Dekka, in Arabic, means the hill of rubble or the hill of the benches, and it was named by a famous historian, El Neweir passed by this area at the beginning of the 20th century, El Neweiry saw the many piles of rubble and sand that were formed due to the digging of the Mahmoudiya Canal at the end of the 19th century, that linked Alexandria to the River Nile, and these piles looked exactly like some huge benches and he was the one who gave the area its recent famous name.
The Roman Amphitheatre of Alexandria was discovered by mere coincidence in the year 1960.
When the workers went to remove a pile of dust and sand in 1960 to clear the land for the construction of a governmental building, they found some solid iron columns, indicating that something may be buried underneath, Immediately afterward the excavation work began in the location of Kom El Dekka and it was carried out by the Greco Roman Museum and the Polish Excavation Mission in Egypt sponsored by the University of Warsaw. Shortly afterward the excavation revealed one of themost important discoveries in Egypt in the 20th century.
The Usage of the Roman Amphitheatre
The Roman Amphitheatre stayed in service and was used to host different artistic events like musical concerts and different sorts of events up till the 7th century.
The Roman Amphitheatre we see today in Alexandria was constructed in the 4th century AD and it was a common feature of the Greco Roman period Amphitheaters were special roofed theatres that were built to host music ceremonies and poet competitions during the reign of the Romans in Egypt
The Amphitheatre features a marble audience section which is symmetrical with extended wing and could host up 600 spectators.
The audience section has a diameter of about 33 meters and consists of 13 rows made of European white marble with the uppermost part being a portico made out of granite columns that were brought from Aswan and some of them are still standing until today. The thirteen rows of the Roman Amphitheatre of Alexandria were numbered with Roman digits and letters to regulate the seating of the audience on different occasions.
There were also five compartments at the top of the audience section used to host important figures and wealthy tradesmen during performances.
These compartments once had ceilings with domes that were based upon large columns made of granite to protect the audience from the sun and the rain. Moreover, these domes were used to magnify the sound of the music and the chants during different performances, Unfortunately, all these structures were destroyed during the earthquake that hit Alexandria in the 6th century AD The steps and the rows of the Roman Amphitheatre are based upon a thick white limestone wall and another wall surrounds it as well, These two walls were connected together through a number of arches where the outer wall function to support the inner wall, a common feature of the Roman architecture from the 2nd to the 4th century.
In the middle of the structure, there is the section of the orchestra where the musical performances used to take place. This section is supported by two large marble columns and has some of the finest Roman mosaics on its floor
The Villa of the Birds and the Roman Baths
Situated to the North of the Roman theatre, there are large mud brick structures and these are ruins of the Roman baths that were constructed near the amphitheater in the period from the 2nd to the 4th century AD, Located to the East of the Roman Amphitheatre of Alexandria, recent excavation missions have unearthed a Roman villa that dates back to the period of Roman Emperor, Hadrian, who ruled Egypt and a large empire during the 2nd century AD.
The archeologists who discovered this villa called it; “the Villa of the Birds” because of the marvelous mosaic floor in the main room of the structure which displays many birds in different shapes
Other mosaic ornaments in the Villa of the Birds have different geometric motifs making the villa a distinctive monument to be visited or explored in Egypt. The Villa of the Birds is the most wonderful example of private houses built in Alexandria during the Roman period. Being finely preserved, it gives the guest a good idea of how these residences looked like centuries ago when they were first constructed.
