Fethiye () is a municipality and

district A district is a type of administrative division that in some countries is managed by the local government. Across the world, areas known as "districts" vary greatly in size, spanning regions or county, counties, several municipality, municip ...

Muğla Province Muğla Province (, ) is a Provinces of Turkey, province and Metropolitan municipalities in Turkey, metropolitan municipality of Turkey, at the country's southwestern corner, on the Aegean Sea. Its area is 12,654 km2, and its population is 1 ...

Turkey Turkey, officially the Republic of Türkiye, is a country mainly located in Anatolia in West Asia, with a relatively small part called East Thrace in Southeast Europe. It borders the Black Sea to the north; Georgia (country), Georgia, Armen ...

. Its area is 875 km², and its population is 177,702 (2022). It is one of the prominent tourist destinations in the

Turkish Riviera The Turkish Riviera (), also known popularly as the Turquoise Coast, is an area of southwest Turkey encompassing the provinces of Antalya and Muğla, and to a lesser extent Aydın, southern İzmir and western Mersin. The combination of a ...

. It was formerly known as Makri, and Meğri.

History

Fethiye was formerly known as Makri (). Modern Fethiye is located on the site of the ancient city of

Telmessos Telmessos or Telmessus ( Hittite: 𒆪𒉿𒆷𒉺𒀸𒊭 ''Kuwalapašša'', Lycian: 𐊗𐊁𐊍𐊁𐊂𐊁𐊛𐊆 ''Telebehi'', ), also Telmissus (), later Anastasiopolis (), then Makri or Macre (), was the largest city in Lycia, near th ...

, the ruins of which can be seen in the city, e.g. the

Hellenistic In classical antiquity, the Hellenistic period covers the time in Greek history after Classical Greece, between the death of Alexander the Great in 323 BC and the death of Cleopatra VII in 30 BC, which was followed by the ascendancy of the R ...

theatre Theatre or theater is a collaborative form of performing art that uses live performers, usually actors to present experiences of a real or imagined event before a live audience in a specific place, often a Stage (theatre), stage. The performe ...

by the main quay. A Lycian legend explains the source of the name Telmessos as follows: The god

Apollo Apollo is one of the Twelve Olympians, Olympian deities in Ancient Greek religion, ancient Greek and Ancient Roman religion, Roman religion and Greek mythology, Greek and Roman mythology. Apollo has been recognized as a god of archery, mu ...

falls in love with the youngest daughter of the King of

Phoenicia Phoenicians were an Ancient Semitic-speaking peoples, ancient Semitic group of people who lived in the Phoenician city-states along a coastal strip in the Levant region of the eastern Mediterranean, primarily modern Lebanon and the Syria, Syrian ...

Agenor Agenor (; ) was in Greek mythology and history a Phoenician monarch, king of Tyre, Lebanon, Tyre or Sidon. The Greeks, Greek historian Herodotus (c. 484–425 BC), born in the city of Halicarnassus under the Achaemenid Empire, estimated that Agen ...

. He disguises himself as a small dog and thus, gains the love of the shy, withdrawn daughter. After he reappears as a handsome man, they have a son, who they name 'Telmessos' (the land of lights). The city became part of the

Persian Empire The Achaemenid Empire or Achaemenian Empire, also known as the Persian Empire or First Persian Empire (; , , ), was an Iranian empire founded by Cyrus the Great of the Achaemenid dynasty in 550 BC. Based in modern-day Iran, it was the larg ...

after the invasion of the Persian general Harpagos in 547 BC, along with other Lycian and

Caria Caria (; from Greek language, Greek: Καρία, ''Karia''; ) was a region of western Anatolia extending along the coast from mid-Ionia (Mycale) south to Lycia and east to Phrygia. The Carians were described by Herodotus as being Anatolian main ...

n cities. Telmessos then joined the Attic-Delos Union (

Delian League The Delian League was a confederacy of Polis, Greek city-states, numbering between 150 and 330, founded in 478 BC under the leadership (hegemony) of Classical Athens, Athens, whose purpose was to continue fighting the Achaemenid Empire, Persian ...

) established in mid-5th century BC. and, although it later left the union and became an independent city, it continued its relations with the union until the 4th century BC. Lycian sarcophagus in ancient Telmessos

Very little is known of the city during the

Byzantine The Byzantine Empire, also known as the Eastern Roman Empire, was the continuation of the Roman Empire centred on Constantinople during late antiquity and the Middle Ages. Having survived the events that caused the fall of the Western Roman E ...

times. Surviving buildings attest to considerable prosperity during

late Antiquity Late antiquity marks the period that comes after the end of classical antiquity and stretches into the onset of the Early Middle Ages. Late antiquity as a period was popularized by Peter Brown (historian), Peter Brown in 1971, and this periodiza ...

, but most were abandoned in the 7th–8th centuries due to the Arab-Byzantine Wars. The city was fortified in the 8th century, and appears as "Telmissos or Anastasioupolis" ca. 800. By the 10th century, the ancient name was forgotten and it became known as Makre or Makri (Μάκρη, "long one"), from the name of the island at the entrance to the harbour.Diana Darke, ''Guide to Aegean and Mediterranean Turkey'', M. Haag, 1986, 296 pages. Page 165
The town grew considerably at the end of the 19th century, and until the exchange of Greco-Turkish populations in 1923 it had a large Greek population. Its name at that time was Makri in modern Greek.
/ref> There are signs of renewed prosperity in the 12-13th centuries: the city walls were enlarged, a report from 1106 names Makre a centre for perfume production, and geographical works from the 13th century describe the city as a commercial center. The area fell to the Turks in the late 12th or early 13th century. Telmessos was ruled by the

Anatolian beylik Anatolian or anatolica may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the region Anatolia * Ancient Anatolians, Anatolians, ancient Indo-European peoples who spoke the Anatolian languages * Anatolian High School, a type of Turkish educational in ...

of Menteşe starting in 1284, under the name ''Beskaza''. It became part of the

Ottoman Empire The Ottoman Empire (), also called the Turkish Empire, was an empire, imperial realm that controlled much of Southeast Europe, West Asia, and North Africa from the 14th to early 20th centuries; it also controlled parts of southeastern Centr ...

in 1424, and was called مكرى ''Meğri'' until 1934.Tahir Sezen, ''Osmanlı Yer Adları'', Ankara 2017, T.C. Başbakanlık Devlet Arşivleri Genel Müdürlüğü Yayın No: 2
''s.v.'' Fethiye, Meğri, pp. 270, 539
From 1867 until 1922, Meğri was part of the

Aidin Vilayet The Vilayet of Aidin or Aydin (, ) also known as Vilayet of Smyrna or İzmir after its administrative centre, was a first-level administrative division (vilayet) of the Ottoman Empire in the south-west of Asia Minor, including the ancient regi ...

of the

Turkish Empire The Ottoman Empire (), also called the Turkish Empire, was an imperial realm that controlled much of Southeast Europe, West Asia, and North Africa from the 14th to early 20th centuries; it also controlled parts of southeastern Central Euro ...

. The town grew considerably in the 19th century, and had a large

Greek Greek may refer to: Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor of all kno ...

population at that time. Following the

population exchange between Greece and Turkey The 1923 population exchange between Greece and Turkey stemmed from the "Convention Concerning the Exchange of Greek and Turkish Populations" signed at Lausanne, Switzerland, on 30 January 1923, by the governments of Greece and Turkey. It involv ...

, the Greeks of Makri were sent to Greece where they founded the town of

Nea Makri Nea Makri () is a town in East Attica, Greece. Since the local government reform of 2011, it has been a municipal unit within the municipality of Marathon. The municipal unit has an area of 36.662 km2. It is part of the Athens metropolitan ar ...

(New Makri) in

Greece Greece, officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. Located on the southern tip of the Balkan peninsula, it shares land borders with Albania to the northwest, North Macedonia and Bulgaria to the north, and Turkey to th ...

. The town was resettled with

Turks Turk or Turks may refer to: Communities and ethnic groups * Turkish people, or the Turks, a Turkic ethnic group and nation * Turkish citizen, a citizen of the Republic of Turkey * Turkic peoples, a collection of ethnic groups who speak Turkic lang ...

from Greece. At nearby

Kayaköy Kayaköy (also: ''Kaya'' or ''Livissi'') is a neighbourhood of the municipality and district of Fethiye, Muğla Province, Turkey. Its population is 975 (2022). Situated 8 km south of Fethiye, it is mostly abandoned. It was anciently known i ...

, formerly Levissi, the abandoned

Greek Orthodox Greek Orthodox Church (, , ) is a term that can refer to any one of three classes of Christian Churches, each associated in some way with Greek Christianity, Levantine Arabic-speaking Christians or more broadly the rite used in the Eastern Rom ...

church is still standing. In 1934, the city was renamed Fethiye in honor of Captain , one of the first pilots of the

Ottoman Air Force The Aviation Squadrons of the Ottoman Empire were military aviation units of the Ottoman Army and Navy.Edward J. Erickson, ''Ordered To Die: A History of the Ottoman Army in the First World War'', "Appendix D The Ottoman Aviation Inspectorate ...

, who died (together with First Lieutenant ) during an airplane crash on 27 February 1914 near Al-Samra, while attempting to complete the first flight from

Istanbul Istanbul is the List of largest cities and towns in Turkey, largest city in Turkey, constituting the country's economic, cultural, and historical heart. With Demographics of Istanbul, a population over , it is home to 18% of the Demographics ...

Cairo Cairo ( ; , ) is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Egypt and the Cairo Governorate, being home to more than 10 million people. It is also part of the List of urban agglomerations in Africa, largest urban agglomeration in Africa, L ...

. On 3 August 1953, Air France Flight 152, while en route from

Rome Rome (Italian language, Italian and , ) is the capital city and most populated (municipality) of Italy. It is also the administrative centre of the Lazio Regions of Italy, region and of the Metropolitan City of Rome. A special named with 2, ...

Beirut Beirut ( ; ) is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Lebanon. , Greater Beirut has a population of 2.5 million, just under half of Lebanon's population, which makes it the List of largest cities in the Levant region by populatio ...

, ditched into the

Gulf of Fethiye The Gulf of Fethiye () is a branch of the Mediterranean Sea in southwestern Turkey. The cities Fethiye and Göcek of Muğla Province are situated around the gulf. It is bounded on the west by Cape Kurdoğlu () and on the east by Cape İblis/Cap ...

off Kızılada. Of the 8 crew and 34 passengers on board, four drowned. The survivors were hosted by the residents during their stay in the town. Fethiye has experienced many powerful and occasionally destructive earthquakes, most notably the

1957 Fethiye earthquakes The first of the 1957 Fethiye earthquakes occurred on April 24, 1957, with the second and larger event about seven hours later on the following day. Both earthquakes had epicentres in the eastern Mediterranean between Rhodes and the coastal city ...

on 24–25 April with 67 casualties and 3,200 damaged or destroyed buildings, which constituted 90% of the buildings in the entire city. The town has been rebuilt since then and now has a modern harbor and a marina. On 14 January 1969, Fethiye was struck by an earthquake with a magnitude of 6.2, which caused no deaths, but there were some injuries and significant damage to buildings. On 10 June 2012, an earthquake with a magnitude of 6.1, struck Fethiye. There was no loss of life, but there were some injuries and many houses and workplaces were damaged.

Tourism

Fethiye is one of Turkey's well-known tourist centers and is especially popular during the summer. The Fethiye Museum, which is rich in

ancient Ancient history is a time period from the beginning of writing and recorded human history through late antiquity. The span of recorded history is roughly 5,000 years, beginning with the development of Sumerian cuneiform script. Ancient h ...

and more recent artifacts, displays and testifies to the successive chain of

civilization A civilization (also spelled civilisation in British English) is any complex society characterized by the development of state (polity), the state, social stratification, urban area, urbanization, and symbolic systems of communication beyon ...

s that existed in the area, starting with the ancient

Lycia Lycia (; Lycian: 𐊗𐊕𐊐𐊎𐊆𐊖 ''Trm̃mis''; , ; ) was a historical region in Anatolia from 15–14th centuries BC (as Lukka) to 546 BC. It bordered the Mediterranean Sea in what is today the provinces of Antalya and Muğ ...

ns. Some of the historical sites worth visiting are: Kadyanda ( Cadyanda) ancient city,

- the abandoned Greek village, Afkule, Gemiler and Aya Nikola. Fethiye is also home to the Tomb of Amyntas, a large tomb built in 350 BC by the Lycians. The most popular tourist towns of Fethiye are:

Ölüdeniz Ölüdeniz (literally "Dead Sea", due to its calm waters even during storms; official translation: Blue Lagoon) is a town of the municipality and district of Fethiye, Muğla Province, Turkey. Its population is 6,132 (2022). Before the 2013 Turkish ...

, Çalış Beach area,

Hisarönü Hisarönü is a tourist resort in the Fethiye district of the Muğla Province of Turkey. It is part of the neighbourhood Ölüdeniz. It is situated at the western extreme of the Mediterranean coast of Turkey and the southern extreme of the Aegea ...

and

Ovacık, Fethiye Ovacık is a settlement in Fethiye district on the Turkish Riviera, Muğla Province, Turkey. It is part of the neighbourhood Ölüdeniz. It is located next to the residential neighborhood and holiday resort of Hisarönü, which consists mainly of sm ...

Butterfly Valley Butterfly Valley, or Wu Tip Kuk (), is a valley in north of Lai Chi Kok in New Kowloon of Hong Kong, located between O Pui Shan and Piper's Hill. Naming The valley is named for the butterfly habitat that existed prior to the Japanese occ ...

is in the Fethiye district. The island of Kızılada in the Gulf of Fethiye, off the city, is a popular stopover for boat tours. Alternatively, there are great diving sites, Afkule being one of the most famous. The Kızılada Lighthouse on the island houses a seafood restaurant and a hostel with nine rooms. File:Fethiye 2020-03-15-4.jpg, Marina of Fethiye File:Fethiye bay by oldypak lp photo.jpg, alt=Fethiye bay by Oldypak lp photo Smirnov, Fethiye bay File:Tomb of Amyntas.jpg, The Tomb of Amyntas in Fethiye. File:The_Lycian_Way_-_2014.10_-_panoramio.jpg, Ölüdeniz Beach in

Fethiye District Fethiye () is a municipality and district of Muğla Province, Turkey. Its area is 875 km2, and its population is 177,702 (2022). It is one of the prominent tourist destinations in the Turkish Riviera. It was formerly known as Makri, and Me ...

File:Kelebekler Vadisi (1).jpg,

is a popular tourism destination in Fethiye District File:Telmessos Antique Theatre.jpg, Telmessos Theatre – the sign on site says it was late Hellenistic, with stage added in , abandoned with the city, excavated in 1992–95, and with seating capacity for 6,000 spectators on 28 rows.

Composition

There are 41

neighbourhoods A neighbourhood (Commonwealth English) or neighborhood (American English) is a geographically localized community within a larger town, city, suburb or rural area, sometimes consisting of a single street and the buildings lining it. Neighbourh ...

in Fethiye District: * Akarca * Babataşı * Bozyer * Cami * Çamköy * Çatalarık * Çenger * Çiftlik *

Cumhuriyet ''Cumhuriyet'' (; English: "Republic") is the oldest up-market Turkish daily newspaper. It has been described as "the most important independent public interest newspaper in contemporary Turkey". The newspaper was awarded the ''Freedom of Press ...

* Eldirek * Esenköy * Faralya *

Foça Foça is a municipality and Districts of Turkey, district of İzmir Province, Turkey. Its area is 251 km2, and its population is 34,946 (2022). The town of Foça is situated at about northwest of İzmir's city center on the Aegean Sea, Aege ...

* Göcek * Gökben * Gökçeovacık * İncirköy *

İnlice İnlice is a neighbourhood of the municipality and district of Meram, Konya Province, Turkey. Its population is 724 (2022). Before the 2013 reorganisation, it was a town (''belde''). Geography İnlice is to the south west of Konya city at a ...

* Karaağaç * Karacaören * Karaçulha * Karagedik * Karagözler * Karakeçililer * Kargı *

* Kesikkapı * Kızılbel * Koruköy * Menteşeoğlu * Nif *

* Patlangıç * Pazaryeri * Söğütlü * Taşyaka *

Tuzla Tuzla (, , ) is the List of cities in Bosnia and Herzegovina, third-largest city of Bosnia and Herzegovina and the administrative center of Tuzla Canton of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina. As of 2013, it has a population of 110,979 inha ...

* Yakacık * Yanıklar * Yeni * Yeşilüzümlü

Climate

Fethiye has a

Mediterranean climate A Mediterranean climate ( ), also called a dry summer climate, described by Köppen and Trewartha as ''Cs'', is a temperate climate type that occurs in the lower mid-latitudes (normally 30 to 44 north and south latitude). Such climates typic ...

consisting of hot, long and dry summers with an average of 34 °C (93 °F) in the daytime. Climate change is affecting the temperatures with the summers becoming hotter and drier than previously. The winters are mild and rainy with a daytime average of 16 °C (61 °F). The classification for the climate of Fethiye is Csa (

Köppen Köppen is a German surname. Notable people with the surname include: * Bernd Köppen (1951–2014), German pianist and composer * Carl Köppen (1833-1907), German military advisor in Meiji era Japan * Edlef Köppen (1893–1939), German author ...

) and Csal ( Trewartha)Meteocorne

/ref>

Transport

Dalaman Airport Dalaman Airport is an international airport and one of three serving southwest Turkey, the others being Milas–Bodrum Airport and Antalya Airport. It has two terminals. The old terminal is used for domestic flights and the new terminal is for ...

serves the Fethiye areas. The most common type of public transportation in Fethiye and nearby area is minibus, commonly known in Turkey as dolmuş (dol-moosh) and numerous routes connect Fethiye with

, Yaniklar, Kargi, Hisaronu, Ovacik, Seydikemer, Karaçulha.

Areas

The overall metropolitan area of the city of Fethiye stretches inland from the harbor for more than 11 km, incorporating several villages into the city. To the north of the city center is the area of Çalış Plajı (Beach), which incorporates the main street of

Barış Manço Mehmet Barış Manço (born Tosun Yusuf Mehmet Barış Manço; 2 January 1943 – 1 February 1999), better known by his stage name Barış Manço, was a Turkish people, Turkish rock music, rock musician, singer, composer, actor, television ...

Bulvarı alongside an extensive promenade along the coast, on which a lot of hotels are based. This beach serves as Fethiye's beach in its own right, since Fethiye does not actually have one itself. To the east, lie the areas of Günlükbaşı, Çamköy, Cumhuriyet, and also Esenköy to the south-east. The city center is defined as the area between the Marina and the Fethiye Market near the football stadium. Approximately 4 km to the south-west and south respectively, lie the towns of

and

, the latter being world-famous for its beach spit and associated Blue Lagoon. The opportunity for paragliding is available from the mountain of Babadağ in Ölüdeniz, from various extreme sports companies located in the area.

Gallery

File:Fethiye 2020-03-15-3.jpg, A view from central Fethiye File:Fethiye Museum 5655.jpg, Fethiye Museum Ceramic File:Fethiye museum 7003.jpg, Gold ceremonial bowl File:Fethiye museum 6999.jpg, Gold laurel wreath File:Fethiye museum 7008.jpg, Bilingual inscription File:Fethiye museum 7017.jpg, Dolls File:Fethiye Museum 5644.jpg, Kakasbos File:Fethiye museum 7019.jpg, Lagynos File:Fethiye museum 7022.jpg,

Hadrian Hadrian ( ; ; 24 January 76 – 10 July 138) was Roman emperor from 117 to 138. Hadrian was born in Italica, close to modern Seville in Spain, an Italic peoples, Italic settlement in Hispania Baetica; his branch of the Aelia gens, Aelia '' ...

statue File:Fethiye museum Girl with bird 2nd century in 2016 7042.jpg, Girl statue File:Fethiye museum 7050.jpg, Letoon temple floor decoration File:Lycian Sarcophagus Fethiye - Mugla - Asia Minor, Turkey - πρώην Μάκρη, Μικρά Ασία, Τουρκία - panoramio.jpg,

n rock tomb in Fethiye (4th century BCE)

References

External links

{{Authority control Cities in Turkey Populated coastal places in Turkey Mediterranean port cities and towns in Turkey Turkish Riviera Populated places in Muğla Province Mediterranean region, Turkey Districts of Muğla Province Metropolitan district municipalities in Turkey Ancient Greek archaeological sites in Turkey Greece–Ottoman Empire relations Greece–Turkey relations Former Greek towns in Turkey