Touring Turkey / Aspendos:

Appx 30 miles east of Antalya, lies the best preserved greco-roman theatre of Turkey; Aspendos, with a capacity of nearly 10.000 people.
In fact, It is a city founded 3000 years ago by early Greeks... not much stands back to this day except the treatre. The theatre, on the other hand, was built 1800 years ago and is in its complete shape with minor changes... one of these places visitors do not need to use their imagination since everything stands the way it was in the past.

Today, the theatre houses ' Aspendos International Opera & Ballet Festival ', held every summer in June & July.

There is a story about the theatre we know that has been passed from long generations to generations...

2. Century AD...
The king proclaims that he would held a contest to see what man could render the greatest service to the city; the winner would marry the king's only daughter. Hearing this, the artisans of the city began to work at high speed. At last, when the day of the decision comes, the king examines all their efforts one by one. He designated two candidates.
The first succeeds in setting up a system that enables water to be brought to the city from great distances via aqueducts.
The second builts the theatre.
The king favours to choose the first candidate, but then, he is asked to have final look at the theatre. While he was wandering about in the upper galleries, a deep voice from an unknown source began saying again and again, "The king's daughter must be given to me" .
The king looks & looks around for the owner of the voice but could find no one.
It was, of course, the architect himself, speaking in a low voice from the stage, proud of the accoustical masterpiece he had created.
The king, amazed with what he finally finds out, declares the architect to be the husband of his beautiful daughter and the wedding ceremony to be held in the theatre.

What you read, of course, is a tale... nothing recorded so far we know. However, it clearly makes a strong emphasis on the theatre's magnificent accoustics. Even the slightest sound made at the centre of the orchestra can be easily heard as far as the uppermost galleries.

This explains how the theatre of Aspendos becomes a great host for opera & ballet performances.