The theatre lies in the
centre of the contemporary city at a small distance from the
Late Archaic temple of Apollo. This is the
small theatre of Ambracia and the smallest ancient theatre revealed so far in the Greek region. The theatre does not rest on a natural hillside but on an artificially embanked slope, which covered the foundations and mosaic floors of a mid-4th century BC bath. The orchestra, parts of the cavea and the parodoi, and the western part of the stylobate of the proscenium, have been uncovered. The cavea had stone seats and was divided in three diazomata (sections). The orchestra had the shape of a perfect circle with a diameter of 6.70 m.
On the basis of its architectural form, the theatre is dated to the end of the 4th or the beginning of the 3rd century BC and was in use until the middle of the 2nd century BC. The monument was excavated in 1976, by the archaeologist of the Ephorate Elias Andreou.
Under the integrated in NSRF project "Enhancement - Unification of the Archaeological Sites of Ancient Amvrakia: Western Necropolis - Temple of Apollo - Small Theatre", the 33rd Ephorate of Prehistoric and Classical Antiquities implements upgrading works, that are expected to create a well organised network of archaeological sites in the city of Arta.
