It is located at the southwestern end of Turkey, on the shore of the bay of the same name.
Limankale (harbour Castle), situated at where the city lies, grew with the influx of the Carians, a branch of the Etruscans/Luwis, and then, of those returning from the Trojan War and thus, gained importance.
The name of the city, located in the ancient Carian region, is orginally "Pisaska", meaning "the Peninsula with Resin Tree".
Subsequently, this name was changed by the Hellenes into "Physcos" meaning "tripe."
The peninsula on which Marmaris is located is clad with pine forests famed for their resin and tar. The resin and other sap obtained from the trees growing in the area today as was in antiquity were dried and used to heal various diseases, primarily of stomach and intestines, hence the name of the city.
The city which functioned as a major harbour for the cities Iying inland within the Carian Confederacy subsequently fell under the sovereignties of the Persians, Rhodians, Romans and Byzantines. The area was annexed to Turkmenoglu Mentes Beyligi in 1284 and to the Ottoman lands in 1391. Substantial damages occurred as a result of an earthquake which took place in 1872. The oldest visible art work in the city is the Harbour Castle which was repaired and transformed into a caravanserai by Sultan Suleyman.
Up on rise to the south of Marmaris are the remains of the walls of a medieval castle which, apparently, was used as the necropolis of the ancient city. In the acropolis which was despoiled by the Genoese pirates, surviving into the modern times are a headless lion\'s sphinx made of marble, a tomb stele with the relief of a human and a horse, and a marble head, and the figure of a Roman woman.
Cetreae/Sedir Island, Idyma, Gokova, Larimna, Lorima, Casarea are the other ancient remains in the area. Today Marmaris is a worldwide renowned tourism center with its accommodation facilities, restaurants, yacht tourism, underwater diving, paragliding activities, excursion tours, entertainment activities and natural bays and beaches.
|
