The stadium was built on a relatively narrow slope of the mountain slope.
While on the mountain side of the stadium the rows of seats and the colonnade could be integrated into the natural slope, on the valley side a suitable supporting structure had to be created. Several earthquakes hit the stadium as well as the whole city hard. It was rebuilt over and over again, but at some point the entire west side, including the supporting structure and the rows of seats, slipped downhill.
On the open side of the horseshoe-shaped stadium there was a 7 m high monumental gate with five round arches. A portico with innumerable round arches was erected over the entire length of the stadium above the rows of seats that still exist today. Drawing reconstructions based on the architectural finds give an idea of the former splendour of this building.
Above the vaulted tunnel at the south end of the stadium there was probably the Imperial Lodge, analogous to other stadiums of this epoch, above the entrance reserved for athletes.

In Hellenistic times, sports such as wrestling, boxing, discus and javelin throwing as well as running competitions found a wide audience. In Roman times, bloody animal hatreds and gladiator fights were added.

Kibyra was an ancient city in the south of Phrygia, on the border with Lycia. In contrast to the "small" Kibyra in Pamphylia, the city was also called "the big Kibyra".
Kibyra was founded in 333 BC and was an important trading town at the crossroads of ancient Lycia, Caria and Phrygia, right at the heart of the north-south and east-west trade routes. Like the other cities in the region, Kibyra suffered severe damage in an earthquake in 23 AD, but was rebuilt. Today, extensive ruins bear witness to the city's former grandeur, including a theatre, an Odeon/Bouleuterion and a recently excavated stadium.

The foundation by Sparta is legendary. In late Hellenistic times Kibyra led a four-city alliance (Tetrapolis) to which Balboura, Bubon and Oinoanda belonged. This was dissolved about 84-82 BC by the Romans under Lucius Licinius Murena. Kibyra belonged afterwards to the Roman province Asia, briefly between 56 and 49 B.C. to the province Cilicia, since Diocletian to the province Caria.