Aspendos Örenyeri

About Aspendos Örenyeri

Aspendos is the best-known of the many ancient cities around Antalya, and its theatre is the main reason most people come. The Ministry of Culture and Tourism describes it as one of the best-preserved Roman theatres in Turkey and the world. It was built by the architect Zenon between 138 and 164 AD, holds around 15,000 spectators, and owes its remarkable condition partly to its use as a palace in the Seljuk period. Some of the tiles that decorated it in that era are now displayed in the Antalya Ethnography Museum. The theatre is still a working stage. It hosts concerts and performances, including the Aspendos Opera and Ballet Festival held every summer, and in 1959 it hosted Turkey's first theatre festival. There is much more to the site than the theatre. Aspendos is divided into a Lower City, where the theatre and the stadion stand, and an Upper City on the acropolis. Visitors can also see baths, temples, city walls and the aqueduct, which runs for about a kilometre and carried water to the acropolis from mountains some 25 km to the northwest. In the 2nd and 3rd centuries AD the city was one of the wealthiest trade and art centres in Asia, according to the Ministry. A local legend says the king promised his daughter to whoever did the city the most useful service, and two brothers competed, one building the aqueduct and the other the theatre. The site is in Belkıs, Serik, and is open every day. When checked in November 2026 the Ministry listed hours of 08:00 to 17:00 with the ticket office closing at 16:30; hours change by season. MüzeKart is valid for Turkish citizens and an audio guide is available.