While there is no way to verify it, historians do
know that the area has been inhabited since the 6th
century BC, when it was called Physkos.
One important aspect of history is that it was once
invaded, and occupied, by a colossus of human history;
Alexander the Great.
According to historical accounts, the castle and town
was evacuated when the 600 inhabitants thought there
would be no chance against the army. They destroyed
their valuables and escaped to the hills.
Alexander the Great was no dummy, and he knew that the
castle would be an important strategic point, so he had
it repaired and had part of his army housed there before
they returned home.
The city would be occupied later on, as part of the
Roman Empire, but the city would disappear to history
until the mid-1400s, when the Ottoman Empire started to
make noise as Sultan Mehmet II began uniting the
kingdoms of Anatolia under the Ottoman Empire banner.
Mehmet had difficulty taking the region because of the
Knights of St. John, who controlled the Dodecanese
Islands, which were off the coast of Marmaris. With the
knights based in Rhodes, the battle raged on for many
years and Mehmet II was unable to take the area under
his new empire, and it was not until 1522 when Suleyman
the Magnificent conquered the area and rebuilt the
castle.
With 300 ships and 200,000 men in the Marmaris bay,
Rhodes finally fell and the knights finally gave up.
Marmaris would then be occupied by the Ottoman Empire
for almost the next 400 years, until the Ottoman Empire
fell in 1918, following the First World War, when it
became a part of Turkey.
As can be seen, some of the greatest men in history have
walked the streets of Marmaris. Whether it is
historians, philosophers, tradesmen or generals, the
city has seen its share of history and much of it,
including the castle that still stands, are available
for tourists to see on a yearly basis.
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