Tucked between the buildings of the upper town, Chieti's Roman theatre dates from the time of Augustus and once held about five thousand spectators. The cavea is partly built into the natural slope, partly into masonry vaults, with the surviving arcades giving a clear sense of the original scale. The building was lost under medieval houses for centuries and only excavated in the 1960s, which explains the slightly buried feel of the site.
The theatre is part of an archaeological circuit that also takes in the nearby thermal baths and small temples. A combined ticket gives access to all of them; pick it up at the archaeology museum.