Located on the 2nd kilometer of the road turning north from the 44th kilometer of the Antalya - Alanya highway, Aspendos is famous for having the best preserved Roman theater not only in Anatolia but in the whole Mediterranean world. The city was founded on a hill plain near Köprüçay (Ancient Eurymedon), one of the largest rivers in the region. Aspendos owed its access to the Mediterranean Sea and its development to the nearby river and thus to the fertile land around it. Today, the theater and the waterways are mostly visited. The remains of other buildings of the city are located on the plain of the hill where the theater was located. 

Historians tell of a battle between the Greeks and Persians on the banks of the river that runs near the city in 467 BC, called the Battle of Eurymedon, which the Greek side won. Although Aspendos tried to resist Alexander the Great by fraudulent means, it eventually surrendered and accepted the tax debt in exchange for gold and the famous horses bred in the city. After Alexander's death, the city fell under the rule of the Ptolemies and its heyday was undoubtedly the Roman Imperial period, when the famous theater and waterways were built.

The Aspendos Theater is one of the most distinguished representatives of Roman Period theaters today, both for its architectural features and its well-preserved condition. Dedicated to the gods and emperors of the period, the building exhibits the last lines of Roman theater architecture and construction technique. Aspendos theater, one of the magnificent structures of its period, could host 15-20 thousand people. It was built during the reign of Emperor Marcus Aurelius (161-180 AD) by the architect Zenon, son of Theodorus. Greek and Latin inscriptions on both sides of the entrance show that it was built by two brothers, Curtius Crispinus and Curtius Auspicious, two of the richest men of the city. Besides the theater, the most important ruins of the city that can be visited are the waterways. The Aspendos waterway system is one of the best surviving examples of ancient waterways. The water pressure towers at both ends of the north-south arched bridge, which is about 1 kilometer long, form the general view. While the city's water was collected in pear-shaped cisterns carved into the bedrock, which can be seen in places on the hill, in the 2nd and 3rd centuries AD, the waterway system was developed together with all the buildings to ensure more regular water supply. The agora, basilica, monumental fountain, assembly building, monumental arch, street and Hellenistic temple, which are the structures of the city center, are the ruins that can be seen on the hill surrounded by a protected area.

The fact that such a small-scale city could issue the most valid currency in the entire Mediterranean world and be equipped with monumental buildings can easily be explained by its economy. The most important export product that sustained the city's economy was salt from the nearby Lake Capria, which today is dried and used for cotton cultivation. Salt was the city's most important source of income and, together with other export products, was sent to other Mediterranean markets via the river. Viticulture and related winemaking, olives and olive oil, other grain products and fresh fruit were other agricultural exports of the city. Historians write that the horses bred in Aspendos were the most sought after horses in the entire Near East and Mediterranean world. Aspendos was one of the cities that continued its existence during the Byzantine and Seljuk periods. It is possible to see the traces of Seljuk period repairs in the famous theater, especially in the monumental door addition in the middle of the facade and the dark red zigzag patterned plaster coating on the facade. The most important reason why the stage building, which is thought to have been organized as a caravanserai where Seljuk sultans stayed, has survived until today is attributed to this Seljuk repair and protectionism. Mustafa Kemal Atatürk visited the building in 1930 and gave directives for its "restoration and reuse".

Located on the 2nd kilometer of the road turning north from the 44th kilometer of the Antalya - Alanya highway, Aspendos is famous for having the best preserved Roman theater not only in Anatolia but in the whole Mediterranean world. The city was founded on a hill plain near Köprüçay (Ancient Eurymedon), one of the largest rivers in the region. Aspendos owed its access to the Mediterranean Sea and its development to the nearby river and thus to the fertile land around it. Today, the theater and the waterways are mostly visited. The remains of other buildings of the city are located on the plain of the hill where the theater was located.