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| 0760 The roman theatre in Cartagena (1) |
Founded by Phoenicians as Qart Hadasht (New City) around 227 BC, the city known in nowadays as Cartagena (in Murcia) lived its heyday during the Roman Empire (under the name Carthago Nova or Carthago Spartaria), but it was also one of the important centers during the Umayyad invasion of Hispania, under its Arabic name of Qartayannat al-Halfa. After its reconquest by King Alfonso X of Castile (1245) the city entered a period of great decadence and decay, despite a short economic revival in the 16th century.
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| 2553 The roman theatre in Cartagena (2) |
Thanks to its strategic position on the Mediterranean, Cartagena has been inhabited by many different cultures which have left their mark on its rich cultural heritage during a glorious and turbulent history. Most of its oldest monuments date from the ages of the Roman Empire, among them being the recently restored Roman theatre of Carthago Nova, one of the landmarks of the city. It was erected between 5 and 1 BC, but in the 3rd century AD a market was built over it, with a semicircular open space, which was perhaps abandoned after a fire caused by the Vandals in 425.
A market quarter of the Byzantines was established on the site in the 6th century AD, then, during the 13th century, the Old Cathedral of the city. The cavea, with a capacity of 7,000 spectators, carved directly in rock in its central part, was split into three areas, or maeniana, divided vertically by five sets of steps in the ima (lower stands) and nine sets of steps in the media and summa cavea (middle and upper stands). The public entered from two side passages (aditus), and the orchestra had a semicircular plan and housed three rows of wooden seats for the authorities (proedria). The stage (proscaenium) had a length of 43.60m, and a total height of 14.60 m. It have been found three round altars dedicated to the Capituline Triad and to the divinities of Apollo (Graces, Muses and Horae), as well as a statue of Apollo with lyre and one of Rhea Silvia.
About the stamps
On the postcard 0760
The first stamp is part of the fifth definitive series with the portrait of the King Juan Carlos I, about which I wrote here.
The second and the third stamp, depicting Castanets and Cymbals, are part of the series Musical Instruments - Percussion, issued on February 22, 2013. The instruments featuring in these stamps belong to the Interactive Music Museum of Malaga (as also the ones from the series of Musical Instrument - string issued on 2012, about which I wrote here). The five stamps, all with the same value (0.37 EUR), are:
• The Drum
• The Tambourine - It's on the postcard 1064
• Castanets - It's on the postcard 0760
• Cymbals - It's on the postcard 0760
• The Timpani
On the postcard 2553
The stamp was issued on January 16, 2015, to mark 25th Anniversary of the National Transplant Organization (ONT).
References
Cartagena - Wikipedia
Roman theatre, Cartagena - Wikipedia
The Roman Theatre in Cartagena - Museum of the Roman Theatre in Cartagena
Musical Instruments on new stamps by Spain - International Stamp News
Sender 0760, 5253: Eric Clemente Figueira (direct swap)
0760: Sent from Murcia (Murcia / Spain), on 13.05.2013
Photo: Miguel A. Gomez
2553: Sent from Murcia (Murcia / Spain), on 26.04.2016
Photo: Miguel A. Gomez
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