The Roman Western Theatre of Umm Qais  is  found  on the western slope of the city’s acropolis. It is one  of the most remarkable locations in the archaeological site. Built in the second-century C.E, the Western Theatre seated up to 3,000 people and was central to the artistic and cultural life of the ancient city, before being adapted and used for other purposes later. Today it is a partial ruin, sign-posted with warning signs telling visitors that they should not access it.

The theatre is one of two known basalt theatres in the region, sculpted from the fine-grained dark rock that can be found locally. The theatre was potentially built by Apollodorus of Damascus, the famous Greco-Syrian engineer and designer. The Western Theatre at Umm Qais shares similarities with the Theatre of Bosra across the border in southern Syria and was constructed around the same time and during the reign of the same Roman Emperor.

Our project will help an unsafe and increasingly dangerous location on a major tourist route to carry out urgent work. The project will provide benefits for local people through employment and training while offering best-practice and long-term conservation solutions for a highly significant building. This project is a proud beneficiary of the J.M. Kaplan Fund for heritage conservation.