I took a few hours off during my research retreat in #Greece to visit the nearby asclepeion of Epidaurus, an ancient centre of healing. It is particularly famous for its theatre, which is so well preserved that it is still being used for performances, and has amazing acoustics. When I visited, a tour guide was demonstrating the acoustics by dropping coins, lighting a match etc, with a running commentary in German, and seated on the top row, I could hear and understand it all.
After every demonstration, people would applaud, which I found interesting, as the acoustics are of course the achievement of the theatre's architect Polykleitos and the builders, so in a way people are applauding them every day again.
If your are interested in details on the acoustics, this paper is very interesting:
https://research.tue.nl/nl/publications/project-ancient-acoustics-part-2-of-4-large-scale-acoustical-meas
You've probably all seen pictures of this theatre, but let me add a few of my own. The theatre is really quite large, it can seat more than 12,000 people. This picture gives an idea of its setting.
#photography
#fediart
#greece
Currently living in Greece (Symi, Dodecanese). I visited the amphitheatre in 1980 with my late wife. Brilliant.
@iankenway Dodecanese, that's quite far away! I had never been in Greece before and it was a very positive experience.