Every Roman city, even small ones, had theatres and baths. Historians therefore always assumed that a theatre or amphitheatre also existed at some stage in Mogontiacum.
However, the discoveries made between 1914 and 1916 when a new road to the citadel was being constructed, took everybody by surprise. Excavations revealed a Roman theatre of gigantic size, the largest such building north of the Alps with an auditorium of 116 metres in width. Its stage alone measured 42 metres. The theatre was large enough for around ten thousand people, which is ten times the capacity of the largest theatre hall at the Mainz State Theatre.
At the initiative of the then Lord Mayor of Mainz Jens Beutel and the City Council, the railway station of Südbahnhof in Mainz was renamed to "Mainz - Römisches Theater". Behind a glass wall along the platform, travellers can still see the remains of the Roman theatre of Mogontiacum. Commuters can thus travel in time back to the glorious past of the city!
searchMenu
