Bodrum Amphitheatre. Photo courtesy of Simon Hardy via Flickr.
Modern Bodrum is situated on the site of what was once Halicarnassus, one of the great cities of antiquity, famous for the tomb of Mausolus, one of the seven wonders of the ancient world. Today, little of this once illustrious metropolis remains, but of those structures that do, the Bodrum Amphitheater is one of the best preserved.
The Amphitheatre is accredited to the reign of King Mausolus, dated to around the 4th century BC, though it wasn’t fully completed until the city’s Roman period in the 2nd-century AD. Like all classical Greek theatres, the Bodrum Amphitheatre is a large, open-air structure constructed on the slope of a hill. It consists of three main parts: the stage (Skene), the Orchestra (a large circular area at the center of the theatre, where religious rites and dance took place) and the audience seating (Cavea). The Amphitheatre was quite large in terms of ancient theatres, with an estimated seating capacity of some 13,000 spectators. A number of these seats have been inscribed with names — most likely donors who helped to pay for the theater.
After extensive excavations in the 1970s, the Bodrum Amphitheatre was designated an open-air museum and opened to the public. The ambiance of the site and the panoramic views of the historic Bodrum peninsula it offers are alone worth the trip, and in the hills above the amphitheatre you can also find some rock tombs belonging to the Hellenistic and Roman era that are also worth exploring.
During the summer season, the theatre is used for concerts and shows, as well as in Bodrum’s September Festival. It is located on the main road from Turgutreis to the Bodrum Airport, and is open everyday from 08:30am – 04:30pm. Entrance Fee is 8 TL.