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Archaeological site · Belkıs Mahallesi, Serik, Antalya

Aspendos Archaeological Site

Aspendos Örenyeri · Aspendos Antik Kenti

The ruins of a Greco-Roman city at Belkıs, Serik (Antalya province), best known for a Roman theatre that Türkiye's Ministry of Culture and Tourism counts among the best-preserved in the world, with an agora, basilica, stadium and a long aqueduct beyond it.

Where it is

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Open Aspendos Archaeological Site on the XTOUR map. Directions are available there.

36.9392, 31.1726

Why go

Aspendos was a Greco-Roman city in Pamphylia. According to the Ministry of Culture and Tourism, its theatre was built by the architect Zenon between AD 138 and 164, held about 15,000 spectators, and survived in remarkably good condition because it was used as a palace in the Seljuk period; some tiles from that phase are now in the Antalya Ethnography Museum. The Ministry divides the city into a Lower City, which holds the theatre and a stadium, and an Upper City with the acropolis, the agora, a 100-metre basilica, a monumental fountain and an odeon. The aqueduct, about a kilometre long, is described as one of the site's most impressive structures. The Ministry also says the theatre continues to host concerts and performances, including the Aspendos Opera and Ballet Festival each summer, and that it hosted Türkiye's first theatre festival in 1959. Those performances have their own organisers, tickets and schedules and are not covered here. Excavation and restoration are under way in the ancient city (announced by the Antalya Governorship in March 2024), and in July 2026 the Minister of Culture and Tourism announced that about 300 metres of the Theatre Street between the theatre and the acropolis had been uncovered; the Ministry's visitor page still lists the site as open. The theatre and aqueducts have been on Türkiye's UNESCO World Heritage Tentative List since 2015. That listing covers the theatre and aqueducts, not the whole city, and Aspendos is not an inscribed World Heritage Site.

Getting there

The Ministry of Culture and Tourism gives the address as Belkıs Mahallesi, Serik, Antalya. It does not publish coordinates for the visitor gate, the ticket office or the car park; the map pin on its page sits close to the theatre. The Ministry lists the site telephone as +90 242 892 13 25.

Through the year

The Ministry lists the site as open every day and shows one set of hours, which was current when read on 22 September 2026; it does not describe seasonal changes, so check the page again when planning a visit in another season. The Ministry says the Aspendos Opera and Ballet Festival is held every summer; this record carries no dates or programme for any year. The Ministry publishes nothing on heat, shade or water at the site.

Accessibility

The Ministry publishes no information on step-free routes, toilets, seating or baby-changing at Aspendos. The theatre's seating is ancient stone tiers and the wider site is open ruins, so plan for steps and uneven ground, and phone the site before you go if you need a step-free or pushchair-friendly route.

Base yourself nearby

City

Antalya

Antalya is a Mediterranean port city whose old harbour town, Kaleiçi, was founded as Attaleia by Attalos II of Pergamon and is entered through a marble gate built in AD 130 for the emperor Hadrian. It is the base for the Konyaaltı and Lara beach strips and for separate road trips to the ancient cities of Perge, Aspendos, Side, Termessos and Phaselis.

Near Aspendos Archaeological Site

Related guides

  • Aspendos theatre, Antalya: the ancient city and Fire of Anatolia

    Aspendos, near Serik in Antalya province, has a Roman theatre that still holds an audience of thousands and an aqueduct with unusual siphons. This guide covers the archaeological site as the Ministry describes it, the theatre's use for evening performances such as the Fire of Anatolia dance show, and why the show's dates are a season to confirm rather than a fixture.

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