Cool historical site. Not more than a 30 minute ish stop but you get a real sense of what it was…read morelike to be in the theatre hundreds of years ago. Infrastructure is in really good shape relative to other ruins in area. Admission included in Museum Turkey pass. A bit of a hike from Antalya so probably only worth it if driving in area.

Aspendos was pretty cool, its one of the largest free standing theaters, there are some that are…read morelarger, but they are built into the side of the mountain side. The theater at Aspendos is very well preserved, considering it is rumored to be built in 1000 BC! That in itself is amazing to me that a structure of this magnitude is still standing at all, let alone preserved so well that every so often they still hold special events there as you can see from other peoples pics. Guess its true what they say, they don't build em like they used to! It's was really nice to see but there wasn't too much more that just the theater itself. There are people there dressed as gladiators to sell photos which was pretty cool if you're the type that gets caught up in the moment or just want a fun pic to remember that part your trip. I had visited other theaters on my trip, so i guess i didn't find this one too special, just more well preserved than some others. My advice... If you've seen a large ancient theater, i think you could skip this one. If you've only seen ruins but not a theater then make it a point to see this one.

This spot is a time machine disguised as a museum and now I know more about Anatolia than I ever…read moreplanned to. The Antalya Archaeology Museum is basically a flex... 14 exhibition halls full of statues, sarcophagi, and enough gods to form a celestial rock band. Turns out, Patara, capital of the Lycian League, was the early democracy superstar, and allegedly the OG inspo for the U.S. Constitution. Eat your heart out, Philadelphia. Timeline crash course? Romans ran the place until 395, then it was the Byzantine party until 1453, followed by the Ottoman Empire doing its thing until 1922, when it all came crashing down like a poorly engineered aqueduct. Also, St. Nicholas? Yeah, Santa Claus was actually a Greek bishop from Myra, not a jolly North Pole elf with a toy and cookie addiction. In short: I went for some dusty artifacts and left questioning everything I thought I knew about Christmas and democracy.

The classical-era materials are all housed and presented in newly renovated, brightly colored rooms…read morewith good signage and good organization. All of the marbles are so cool, overwhelming in terms of how many there are and how gorgeous and how much mythology is behind them! There is even a computer terminal where you can interact with the statues and learn the legends they come from. The materials predating classical antiquity are in the more traditional glass cases, categorized first by time period and then by type, which is a bit confusing and repetitive. This is a super worthwhile visit in Antalya-- very extensive and very interesting, helps to put a lot of the sites in context!