The artistic heritage of Tropea is enriched

Important archaeological discovery

On the discovery of some interesting columns, the experts hazard the guess that they date back to 300 AD. The discovery is however destined to enrich the history of the town

by Bruno Cimino
photos Salvatore Libertino
Translation by Louise Lorenzo

Tropea - Towards the end of May 2002 in Vaccari Place in Tropea, near the ex-residence of the bishops, the workers brought to light four columns of tufa during maintenance work of an ancient building. The date of the discovery has not yet been verified.
The director of the Fine Arts, in agreement with the proprietor of the building, Arnolfo Scuffi, stopped the work  temporarily. The time was necessary for an investigation by the experts so they could decipher the interesting exhibit and thus compile a useful identity card on the story of the ancient city. In fact an intervention was necessary so the columns could be restored according to artistic guidelines.
Antonio Lorenzo of Tropea, a connoisseur  of ancient  history as well as an art  lecturer, suspects that (according to us) we could confirm this hypothesis if we could finance the operation”. He in fact supposes that the columns which have been unearthed could belong to a platform, pulpitum, and emphasises that: “In the ancient world the first theatre shows were performed on  platforms reconstructed each time. Only people of a refined culture know how to build permanent structures using slabs and blocks of local limestone let alone columns such as those found in Tropea and which appear typical of a stage of Doric style”.
We have already had discussions about the origins of Tropea handed down by Dionisio of Alicarnasso, Livio, Ovidio, as well as the popular legends of the 2^nd century AD, the coastal strip, the Vibo area and beyond as far as Lucania, were conquered by Italo, the king of the Enotri who wanted the whole area  to be called Italy.
The cultural wishes of this people who may have been encouraged to favour ad hoc presentations in the style of the theatre of Magna Grecia cannot be excluded.
We know that normally the theatres were situated at the foot of a small hill facing east where it was possible to build on a step slope. In the case of the columns found in Tropea the situation is typical as the structure is on a cliff overlooking the sea.
To sum up, basing our hypothesis on that of Antonio Lorenzo’ s the presumed theatre on the cliffs of Tropea seems to be confirmed by the series of concentric and radial embankments covered in a second era by fire sand above which tiers of concentric rows have been discovered which would have held moveable seats used by senators, priests and local dignitaries.