This is a post on my previous site "Travel Sights With Lilliy.com"
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Sightseeing The Turkish Riviera… Aspendos Theater Part1 of 2
Do you want to be taken to ancient times and experience how entertainment was in the 2nd to 3rd centuries AD then if you are ever in the region and in mid June- early July you can with the little help of modern technology. Attend an opera at Aspendos Theater in the ancient city 50 km east of Antalya.
The Aspendos Amphitheater located on the Euromedion River (now the Koprulu River) was constructed around AD 162 by the architect Zeno during The Romans in the era of Emperor Marcus Aurelius (AD 161-80) and restored during the 13th century.
The stadium has unique acoustics and lighting that changes when night falls. Attending an opera at night gives remarkable effect with the magical atmosphere of the ancient architecture and the strength of the vocals through out the stadium which was tested even during those ancient times by the architect to asses the power of the sound, its echo and reflection backwards at different parts of the theater and made adjustments to give the desired remarkable effect.
The theater was ruins for a long period of time till Ataturk came while touring the region in 1930’s declared that it has to be used, and restorations were started. Since that time it stages operas, concerts, ballet, and folklore festivals till today. One of which is a very popular festival worldwide The Aspendos International Opera and Ballet Festival, It is the only festival of its kind in Turkey, which hosted its 16th Anniversary this year, is still running this month. The last two performances will be Romeo and Juliette Opera (30 June 2009) and A Journey with Magical Music of Disney Movies and Dance Music (3rd July 2009). The best performance of this festival is The Opera Aida that reflects the theaters antique atmosphere with the costumes and music, every one who has attended this performance raved that it was unique. If you are visiting the area with in these days I highly recommend that you check it out, or if you are planning a trip to Antalya try to make it during the time when you can attend one of these performances.
When I walked through the doors of Aspendos into the ground floor of the theater I was astonished by its grandness and how even that long ago The Roman Civilization had set the standers to be followed afterwards by so many in architecture, physics, and entertainment. I stood there in awe of its magnificence and wondered how will our times be remembered hundred of years from now, have we left anything that will stand through out time that the generations of hundreds years to come, will they too stand in awe of what we have left behind.
Suggested links:
The official site for The Aspendos International Opera and Ballet Festival
Tickets with hotel pick up and drop off can be arranged by this touring company which I highly recommend:
Solymos Travel
Tel:+90 242 248 17 48
Fax: +90 242 248 19 17
e-mail: info@solymostravel.com
Part 2 of 2 of this post will be the panoramic video of The Aspendos Theater.
Sunday, October 18, 2009
Post #3: "Sightseeing The Turkish Riviera… Aspendos Theater Part1 of 2"
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