Aspendos

Last update September 24, 2026

Aspendos is situated approximately 45 minutes east of Antalya, and the main reason most tourists go there is because of the Roman theater, which is generally regarded as the best preserved in the world. It was constructed in the second century AD during the reign of Marcus Aurelius and still has the complete stage building, a feature that very few other Roman theaters can boast. If you go up into the seats and look downwards at the stage wall, which remains at its original height, it’s simple to forget that you’re looking at a structure that is nearly two thousand years old rather than one that has been recently reconstructed.

The theater still organises events nowadays, one of which is an annual opera and ballet festival taking place in June and performed on the same stage which Roman audiences previously used. Should your visit coincide with this festival, it is worth altering your schedule to see a live performance. The acoustics are still good enough for the guides to frequently demonstrate by speaking from centre stage while you are seated in the top rows and thus hear each word clearly without the need for any amplification.

Outside the theater, the majority of people fail to explore the rest of the site, and this is a mistake if you have an extra hour. If you walk a short way up the hill behind the theater, you will come to the ruins of the ancient city, including a basilica, an agora, and most impressive of all the remains of a huge Roman aqueduct which once supplied water for miles across the valley. The arches of the aqueduct, some of which still rise to their full height, extend dramatically across the landscape and are rarely visited by more than a few people.

It is a good option for a half-day visit from Antalya and can be combined with either Perge or Side according to how much time you want to spend exploring the ruins. You should take some water with you and anticipate having very little shade, particularly in the area of the aqueduct. Considering the excellent state of preservation of the theatre, it is surprising that so few tourists make this short journey to the site compared to the number of visitors at the more well-known locations along the coast.