Aspendos

Aspendos Review

Pay your admission to the main site at what was once the actors' entrance to the theater. Built during the reign of Emperor Marcus Aurelius (ruled AD 161-180) by a local architect called Xenon, it is striking for the broad curve of seats, perfectly proportioned porticoes, and rich decoration. The Greeks liked open vistas behind their stages, but the Romans preferred enclosed spaces. The stage building you see today was once covered by an elaborate screen of marble columns, and its niches were filled with statues. The only extant relief on-site depicts Dionysus (Bacchus) watching over the theater. The acoustics are fine, and the theater is still in use—for concerts and for the Antalya International Opera and Ballet Festival, held every June and July, rather than for the wild-animal and gladiator spectacles as in Roman times. Aspendos is not just a Roman site—it was founded by the Hittites, and the Seljuk Turks used it as a royal palace in the 13th century. There are traces of the distinctive Seljuk red-and-yellow paint work here and there.

Most visitors just see the theater, but the actual city is up a short zigzagging trail behind the theater. The rewards are a tall Nymphaion —a sanctuary to the nymphs built around a fountain decorated with a marble dolphin—and the remains of a Byzantine basilica and market hall. You can also see, below in the plain, the stadium and the aquaduct which used an ingenious syphon system.