Polish Archaeology in the Mediterranean (14.2002(2003))

ALEXANDRIA


AREA AW
Preservation work at the far end of the
Theater Portico concentrated on restoring
the walls of one of the auditoria (no. 2)
uncovered there in the late 1970s.U)) The
auditorium built behind the Portico back
wall had been dismantled completely in
the medieval period. Restorers cleared the
foundation trench to a depth of some
2.60 m below the floor level of the
auditorium (i.e., to the level of the original
footing). Since the missing section of the
portico back wall was some 13.50 m long
here, it proved necessary to restore also an
adjacent section of the northern wall to
provide for lateral stability.

Ancient building principles were fol-
lowed strictly in the restoration of the
foundation. The lower courses (up to
c. 2.00 m above the footing) were made of
coursed squared rubble topped with two
layers of small dressed stones. An
additional bonding course of small blocks
was introduced at mid-height. For the
upper courses larger blocks of a size similar
to those used originally were used, there
having been quite a number excavated in
the vicinity. The wall was restored from
one to three courses above the pavement of
the portico. The section of the northern
wall (c. 6 m long, 1.30 m wide) was rebuilt
in the same manner and the missing facing


Fig. 10. Theater Portico. The back wall in sector L, after restoration
{Drawing A. Pisarzewski)

10) Rodziewicz, op. cit., 236-240.

29