The Tlos Stadium is located at the foot of the Acropolis. According to today's knowledge, it only offered space for about 2,500 spectators. The retaining wall above the spectator terraces was probably fortified during the Roman Empire using spoilers. Today, only the spectator stands can be seen on the mountain side. Whether there is evidence for rows of seats built on substructures in Roman times and later removed was not known. Nor was it possible to determine whether wooden grandstands were used. The 75 metre long and 8 metre wide fortified foundation could indicate this. At least one access led from the mountain side through the retaining wall directly to the spectator stands.

Tlos was already inhabited in the Bronze Age and should be identical with the place Dalawa mentioned in Hittite sources. A bronze axe found there indicates origins dating back to the 2nd millennium BC.
In Lycian times the place was called Tlava, as coin finds prove. The town was one of the six largest towns in the Lycian League and had triple voting rights. Although the town was a bishop's seat in Byzantine times, its importance declined. Tlos was, along with Olympos, Myra, Xanthos, Patara and Pinara, one of the initially six largest cities in the Lycian League and, like them, had three votes.
The present ruins date from the Lycian, Roman and Byzantine periods. The last inglorious highlight in the 19th century was the construction of a winter residence and barracks in fortress construction on the old ruins of the Acropolis by the robber Kanlı Ali Ağa.