Roman Theatre of Aspendos

Aspendos, on the Pamphylian plain east of Antalya, was in the fifth century BC the most important city of the region, trading in salt, oil and wool from its river port on the Eurymedon. Today almost everything of it lies in scattered ruins on a low acropolis, except for one building that looks as though its audience left yesterday. The theatre of Aspendos is often called the best-preserved ancient theatre anywhere, and the claim rests above all on its stage building: a stage wall that has survived intact from end to end.

An inscription records that it was built in the reign of Marcus Aurelius in the mid-second century AD, paid for by two brothers, Curtius Crispinus and Curtius Auspicatus, and designed by an architect named Zenon, a native of the city. The auditorium, about 96 metres across, rests partly on the slope of the acropolis hill and partly on vaulted arcades, with 41 rows of seats. Look up at the rim: holes for 58 masts show where a great awning, the velarium, was once stretched over the spectators. The stage itself was once covered by a sloping wooden roof, now lost, that reflected sound out towards the seats.

The theatre survived because it never stopped being useful. In the thirteenth century the Seljuks of Rum repaired it and turned the stage building into a palace, and it also served as a caravanserai. In modern times it has become a stage again, and since 1994 it has hosted the Aspendos International Opera and Ballet Festival. Before leaving, it is worth walking up to the acropolis with its agora, market hall and council house, and looking out over the plain to the remaining arches of the city's aqueduct, which crossed the marshy valley with a pressurised siphon between two tall towers. The Seljuk bridge over the Eurymedon, rebuilt on Roman foundations, lies just nearby.

Getting there

Aspendos is about 40 km east of Antalya and roughly 6.5 km from the town of Serik. Antalya Airport (AYT) is about 33 km away.