Odeion of Agrippa and Gymnasium or "Palace of the Giants"

Odeion of Agrippa and Gymnasium or "Palace of the Giants". . ΩΛΕΙΟ ΤΟΥ ΑΓΡΙΠΠΑ ΚΑΙ ΓΥΜΝΑΣΙΟ Ή "ΑΝΑΚΤΟΡΟ ΤΩΝ ΓΙΓΑΝΤΩΝ" , (Text in Greek on the left side. To read it enlarge the marker image.) , English: , Odeion of Agrippa (ca 15 B.C.) , The Odeion of Agrippa, a grand and luxurious building designed for musical performances is known in the ancient sources as the "Odeion", the "Kerameikos Theatre" or the "Agrippeion" after its donor, Marcus Vipsanius Agrippa, son-in-law of the Emperor Augustus. The central part of the building which rose, as if a separate structure, above the surrounding stoa, including an oblong rectangular stage, a semicircular "orchestra" and an auditorium built like an amphitheatre, with space for around 1000 persons. The entrance for the audience was formed, on the south side of the building, by the terrace of the Middle Stoa, while a small tetrastyle propylon on the north side lead directly to the stage area. The building originally had a pitched roof, without interior support, which collapsed around A.D. 150. Then the building was reconstructed with the addition of a transverse wall that reduced the seating capacity almost by half. The north face took the form of a stoa, the epistyle of which supported six colossal statues of Tritons and Giants. Four of them later adorned the Gymnasium or "Palace of the Giants", which was built over the remains of the Odeion. The building was destroyed by fire in A.D. 267, in the Herulian invasion. , Gymnasium or "Palace of the Giants" (A.D. 410-530) This structure, impressive in its size, included a great section of the central area of the Agora, covering older buildings such as the Odeion of Agrippa and parts of the Middle Stoa and of the South Stoa II. It contained a bathing establishment surrounded by several rooms, two colonnaded courtyards, and a garden at the south. In all, the complex covered 13.500m². Its entrance facing the Panathenaic Way was monumental, with a triple opening and four pillars on which were placed the colossal statures of the Tritons and Giants from the Odeion. Originally the building was considered an gymnasium, but it was probably a palace, seat to a high administrative official.