Seite - 22 - in The Power of Urban Water - Studies in premodern urbanism

22 Patric-AlexanderKreuz Fig. 5:Verona, hillsidewith theatre and terraces. different level of appropriatingwater in anurban setting.An initiative thatmust have stressed the resources of the city for years or even decades can be found in Verona. Only a few years after Catullus’ description of his hometown, the local community took the decision to relocate the settlement to the area in thebendof theAdige river,where anewcity, nowwith anup-to- date orthogonal layout,was established.31 As a result, the area of the former settlement on the hillside on thenowopposite side of the riverwas available for anewdevelopment: only a few decades later, it was thoroughly andmonumentally reshaped. The most prominent building herenowwasthe large theatre,whichroseonly10mbehindtheAdige’sembankment, immedi- atelyabove thestreetalongthebankside.32Theapproximately105mwidecaveaof thebuilding was embedded in the slope of the hill,while the rearwall of its 71mwide stage buildingwith the bulky parasceniae formed amulti-storey façade towards the city on the other side of the river. And this theatre was no solitarymonumental building: it was visually and structurally embedded intoanambitiousarchitectural reshapingof the entire slope, starting fromthe thea- ter’s cavea. This reshaping includedagallery crowning thecaveaand, aboveall, a sequenceof three built terraces and ramps climbing up to the summit of the hill that was crowned by a sanctuaryand its temple33 (Fig. 5). Theover 120mwidewallsof these terraceswereeachstruc- turedbydifferent decorative arrangements of niches, half columnsandentablatures: theplain rearwall of the lower, about 10mdeep terrace featureda fountain at itswestern edge,while a corresponding installationmight be assumed for the eastern edge todayoccupiedby amonas- terybuilding.Thewallof theonly 1.5mnarrowmiddle terraceexhibits in symmetrical arrange- ment a rectangular central and two semi-circular niches, framed by a sequence of blindwin- dows.Dorichalf-columnsandentablaturedecorate thewholewidthof thewall.Finally, the7m deepupper terrace,situatedalready41mabovethelevelof thetheatre’sorchestra,wasdecorat- edwith a central niche andanarrangement of semi-columnswith entablature.As a result, the slope of the hill was, from the embankment of the river up to the sanctuary on the hilltop, completely ‘architecturized’.Distancedby the separating river, but at the same timeconnected to it, a highly articulatedmonumental prospect incorporating hillside aswell as river opened up to viewers from the city. River and embankment, theatre façade, the sequence of terraces, and the crowning temple must have exhibited a specific scenographic quality,34 making the river anelement of thebuilt local cityscape. 31 CavalieriManasse 1998, 111‒113 fig. 1. 32 CavalieriManasse 1987, 17‒22; Tosi 2003, 537‒540pl. 12. 100‒120. 33 CavalieriManasse 1987, 20f.; Tosi 2003, figs. 102. 103. 109‒112. 34 CavalieriManasse 1987, 20f.