Fethiye amphitheatre is confidently described as a Hellenistic (Greek) theatre, dating back to the days of Alexander the Great, although other reports equally confidently suggest it is a construction of the early Roman Empire (2nd Century BC). This suggests that it is probably a Roman construction on the site of an original Greek theatre. It would also have served its purpose through the period of the Roman Empire and still in use during the

What is known is that a project by Fethiye Museum started carefully uncovering the amphitheatre in 1993, and work continued until 1995. Many artifacts including Roman statues and sculptures were excavated during the project and are now exhibited at Fethiye Museum. In recent years there have been many rumours of further restoration work on the amphitheatre - the theatre is a great treasure that can appear to be unappreciated at times. Indeed, restoration work is needed not just to restore it to see what it may have been like two centuries ago - restoration is needed so we can see again what it looked like after the restoration of the 1990's! Mother nature has once again returned to attempt to swallow up this magnificent structure - slowly but surely it seems to be disappearing as nature's green blanket slowly covers the seating up once more.

The Turkish tourism assocation TURSAB (Association of Turkish Travel Agencies) intends starting a restoration project (initially announced in 2007) but as you may well know, in Turkey things can take time...

Fethiye Amphitheatre is free to visit, and is easily walkable from most parts of town. From the harbour, head along the seafront promenade with the sea on your right hand side. The amphitheatre is next to the main road on your left hand side, close to where the road bears right at the marina (near to where the Rhodes Ferry docks).

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