Marmaris
Marmaris is a city in southwestern Turkey, in the province of Mugla. It is located on the Mediterranean Sea, facing the Greek island of Rhodes. Since the 1980s, its small port has become one of the main tourist centres of the country. Although the city officially has only about 30,000 inhabitants, it welcomes several hundred thousand in the summer season.
Marmaris, a small town discovered by Pierre Loti in 1870, is nothing like it used to be. By playing the mass tourism card, it has become a seaside resort without much interest
History
The town was called Physcos . According to Strabo, the Persian strape of Caria, Hecatomonos, father of the famous Mausaule, made Physcos his harbour in the 4th century BC.
In 334 BC, the conquest of Anatolia by Alexander the Great made Physcos a Greek city. At his death it became part of the Seleucid dynasty. It then became Roman and Byzantine like the rest of Anatolia.
In the 13th century, the city came under the control of the Menteseogullari whose capital was Milas. The Ottoman Sultan Suleiman the Magnificent conquered the city during his campaign against the island of Rhodes. The city was then named Mimaras, then Mermeris and finally Marmaris.
From 1919 to 1921, Mamaris was under Italian control. With the Turkish republic, Marmaris became a sponge fishing village.
Tourism
Within the city
TheFortress Museum, Kale Müzesi in Turkish, is located in the fortress built by the Ottoman Sultan Suleiman the Magnificent when he undertook the siege of the island of Rhodes in 1522. It is close to the harbour and is said to have been built on the ruins of a fortress dating from Alexander the Great.
Around Marmaris:
Amos, it is an ancient site near the village of kumlubuk.
Loryma, Bozukkale in Turkish, meaning "ruined castle", is located almost at the tip of Cape Kara
Cape Kara, Kara Burun in Turkish, meaning "black cape
Cedar Island, Sedir Adasi in Turkish, is the site of Cedræ. It is located almost at the bottom of the Gulf of Gökova. Some ruins can be seen on this island: the walls of a Roman palace, a small theatre facing the sea, a temple dedicated to Apollo on the basis of which a Christian basilica of the Byzantine period was built
Lycian tombs in Kaunos
The nearest airport is in Marmaris and Dalaman, 120 km east of the city centre.
There are hydrofoils and ferries from Marmaris to the island of Rodes.
