Epirus and Thessaly Sights

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1. Dodona

Vestiges of two of ancient Greece's important cosmological and cultural institutions, divining and drama, are here—you can see the space of the ancient oracle and the superbly preserved and impressive theater. As you enter the archaeological site, you pass the stadium on your right, built for the Naïa games and completely overshadowed by the theater on your left. One of the largest and best preserved on the Greek mainland, the theater once seated 17,000; it is used for summer presentations of ancient Greek drama. Its building in the early 3rd century BC was overseen by King Pyrrhus of Epirus. The theater was destroyed, rebuilt under Philip V of Macedon in the late 3rd century, and then converted by the Romans into an arena for gladiatorial games. Its retaining wall, reinforced by bastions, is still standing. East of the theater are the foundations of the bouleuterion (headquarters and council house) of the Epirote League, built by Pyrrhus, and a small rectangular temple dedicated to Aphrodite. The remains of the acropolis behind the theater include house foundations and a cistern that supplied water in times of siege. The remains of the sanctuary of Zeus Naios include temples to Zeus, Dione (goddess of abundance), and Heracles; until the 4th century BC there was no temple. The Sacred Oak was here, surrounded by abutting cauldrons on bronze tripods. When struck, they reverberated for a long time, and the sound was interpreted by soothsayers.