Aspendos
The ancient city, 48km east of Antalya, is most famous for its theatre, probably the best
preserved in Asia Minor. It is still in use today, and stages the annual Aspendos Opera and
Ballet Festival every summer. It was the scene of a huge bloody battle between the Persians and
the Greeks in 469 BC, and then ruled by the Spartans 120 years later. The city became part of
the Seleucid kingdom after the death of Alexander the Great, and then became part of the Roman
province of Asia in 133 BC. The famous theatre was built in the 2nd century AD, using a Roman
design, and it is still intact.
In addition to the theatre, there is an acropolis on a hilltop, of which the nymphaeum and
basilica are still fairly intact.