The Teatro Romano de Cádiz (Roman Theatre of Cadiz), from the first century BC, was part of the urban expansion of Gades. This was developed by Lucio Cornelio Balbo “the Old” and his nephew Balbo “the Young”. Resulting of this project, Neapolis was built. It was a new neighbourhood also endowed with an amphitheatre.
The theatre was abandoned four centuries later. Since then, it has been plundered. Used as a warehouse, block and housing, it also served as a base for an Islamic fortress known in times of Alfonso X as the “Theatre Castle”.
The excavations show only a part of the Roman Theatre of Cadiz. This is considered the oldest and one of the largest theatres in the Iberian Peninsula. The most monumental of the set, the stage and the porch that opened behind it remain unexcavated, and its ruins are hidden under the district of El Pópulo.
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