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Heritage classified

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Origin and history

The Vienna Theatre, located in the Isère department, was built in the first century C.E. in several stages. It has been listed as a historic monument since 1840 and is one of the five emblematic cultural sites of the city, alongside the Museum of Fine Arts and the cloister Saint-André-le-Bas. Its impressive architecture, with a cavea anchored to Pipet hill, includes 46 steps (initially 30 for the upper and 12 for the lower), separated by a wall and a Balticus. The marble cladding of some stands and the griffon-footed seats testify to its long history. The pulpitum was decorated with animal bas-reliefs, while fragments of chained captives and winged Victoires, found in use, could come from the stage wall.

The theatre, with a diameter of 130 meters, was surmounted by a porch terrace and founded on a massive massif of masonry. Misidentified as an amphitheater, it was rediscovered in 1908 and searched from 1922 under the direction of Jules Formigé, architect of the Historical Monuments. Inaugurated in 1938 by President Albert Lebrun, he formed a rare archaeological complex in Roman Gaul with the neighbouring L ́odeon, comparable to those of Lugdunum (Lyon) and Valencia. In antiquity, closed by a stage wall similar to that of Orange, it could accommodate 11,000 to 14,000 spectators, ranking him among the three greatest of Gaul after Autun and Mandeure. Elements of its decor (marms, bas-reliefs) are still preserved today.

Since 1981, the theatre has hosted the annual Jazz Festival in Vienna, and in 2016 it was the setting for Johnny Hallyday's last solo concert (tour Rester Vivant). Ranked in the Heritage Plan since 2006, it has benefited from restorations (flow systems) and from a valuation study since 2013 to find additional places. Contrary to the non-accessible London, the theatre is visited and remains a symbol of the Roman power in Vienna, then capital of the province of Vienna.

Archaeological excavations, carried out in 1817 and intensified between 1908 and 1925, revealed carved fragments and structures based on the rock. The reports of Émile Espérandieu (1907) and the works of Jules Formigé (1920s) restored his east-west axis from 79 to 86 metres. Today owned by the commune, the site combines ancient heritage and cultural vitality, with a current capacity of 8,000 to 9,000 spectators.

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