Ancient site· Serik, Antalya

Aspendos

StatusTentative World Heritage Site

Aspendos is a ancient site in Serik, Antalya; The most intact Roman theatre on earth — 12,000 seats, still acoustically perfect after 18 centuries.

Aspendos
Saffron Blaze · Wikimedia Commons · CC BY-SA 3.0

Start here

KahveRota

Are you here?

Explore Aspendos, spend a little time here and collect your route rewards.

Stay in a publicly accessible, safe area. Exact location samples are used only to record the visit and deleted after 48 hours.

The most intact Roman theatre on earth — 12,000 seats, still acoustically perfect after 18 centuries.

Editor's Note

Source: Kültür Portalı · Wikidata This information is compiled from the sources shown.

Aspendos (Belkıs) is an ancient city in the village of Belkıs in the Serik district of Antalya, famous for its ancient theatre. It was one of the wealthiest cities of Pamphylia.

Read more on Wikipedia →

Story

Built around 155 AD by the architect Zeno for emperor Marcus Aurelius, Aspendos is the most intact Roman theatre on earth. The 96-metre stage building still has its niches, the cavea seats 12,000, and you can hear a coin drop on the orchestra floor from the topmost row. The only modern interventions are wooden seat numbers; everything else is original Pamphylian stone.

Did you know

  • Aspendos's acoustic still works — concerts and operas are staged here every summer.
  • Zeno was rewarded with a marriage to the patron's daughter for the design.
  • The aqueduct just outside town carried water 19 km on syphon pipes — a Roman engineering rarity.

Reviews

Be the first to leave a word.

A rating and a few sentences. It helps the next visitor.

Help improve this page

Every week, we choose a place in Türkiye and share its route, stories, and food.