Marmaris is an ancient city, dating back to 3500 BCE. Ruins of Physkos, an even more ancient city that existed before Marmaris, sit just miles to the north, and contains a sixteenth-century citadel built by Sultan Suleyman the Magnificent, as well as a caravansary built in 1545 and an eighteenth-century mosque. Perhaps the most prominent historical event for Marmaris was the Battle of the Nile. The bay was used as a base by Lord Nelson in his battle, and victory, against Napoleon.
Sultan Suleyman also built a small castle within Marmaris, where he massed hundreds of thousands of men to attack the island of Rhodes when it was held by English knights. The castle is now the Marmaris Museum, featuring nautical and historical exhibits related to the town.
In the late twentieth century, Marmaris became a very popular resort town, with a population of nearly 200,000 during the summer season.The bay offers an attractive location for fishers, swimmers and divers, as well as more active recreation, such as water sports and sailing. A yearly Yacht Charter Show is held in the harbor. The market offers souvenirs of Turkish handicrafts and "caam ball", a local pine honey. A short drive north can also put you within a boat's ride to Sedir Islands, where it said that Marc Anthony and Cleopatra swam together.
Marmaris is a departure point for locations all along the coast of Turkey and in nearby Greece. Ferries and boats also go to a number of Greek islands in the Mediterranean and Aegean Seas. The Bozburun Peninsula juts off mainland Turkey just beyond Marmaris, and contains the ancient cities of Hydas, Erine, Castabus, Bybassias, Pariodon, Ceresse, Saranda, Tymuns and Amos.
The hills around Marmaris are populated with pine trees, and the Ataturk Park to the east has groves of frankincense trees. This region in southern Turkey also has higher mountains and fertile valleys, some of which produce crops of olives, figs, peaches, pears and apples, as well as tobacco and sunflowers. The area is humid, hot in the summer but mild at other times, with an average of twenty-five inches of rain per year.
