Aspendos

Located about 40 km east of Antalya, Aspendos is an ancient Greco-Roman city that is famous for one of the best preserved Roman theaters in the world. Built in 155 AD, the theater has a diameter of 96 meters (315 feet), rises nearly 100 meters high, and has a capacity of over 12,000 spectators. While the theater hosted gladiator fights in ancient times, it is still used today for major cultural events, including the Aspendos International Opera and Ballet Festival. Several other important historical sites are located close to the Roman Theater, including the remains of the Acropolis of Aspendos, a basilica, agora, nymphaeum, 15 kilometers (9.3 miles) of a Roman aqueduct, and the Roman Eurymedon Bridge, which was reconstructed in the 13th century.

According to tradition, the city was founded around 1000 BC by Mopsos, a famous Greek diviner. Evidence has been found by archaeologists of a settlement in the era during the Hittite era, around 800 BC. Due to its strategic location on the Eurymedon River, Aspendos was conquered and successively ruled by the Greeks, Persians, Romans, the Byzantine Empire, and the Seljuks.

Aspendos

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