____________________________________________________________________________________________

History of Fethiye

This nostalgic and picturesque harbor place is named after Telmessos (son of the Greek God Apollon) in the year 547 B.C., but was soon conquered by Harpagos, Persian general of the Caryan Satrap Empire.

Telmessos united with the Delos Confederation in the year 450 B.C. and became independent shortly after that.

In the year 400 B.C. Lycian king Perikles conquered Telmessos, therefore the name Telmessos became Lycia.

In the year 334 B.C. Iskender (Alexander the Great) took the power out of Perikles's hands. He allowed king Perikles to stay and declared commander Nearkhos de Cretan (his loyal companion, good friend as well) governor, to protect Lycia against the king, because the king still had everything under his control. This way Iskender has conquered the hearts of the original Telmessos nation and then they agreed on a treaty. Nearkhos took a step further and got an idea to organise a party in the citadel and to send singers over there. Lady singers were accompanied by an orchestra of men who had their swords and daggers hidden in their instruments. These so called musicians succeeded and won the battle against the king and Iskender got his autocracy. After Iskender passed away the place was ruled by Ptolomaiossians.

Little Asia in the years 350 B.C.:

After the year 189 B.C. Telmessos was ruled by Attolos III., king of the Pergamese Kingdom. The king passed away and he has left Telmessos to the hands of the Roman Empire. In the year 88 B.C. the Roman Empire got attacked by Mithridates (king of Pontus), without any success. During this war Telmessos was given to Rhodes, but the original Telmessos nation has protested against this. Therefore the Roman Empire took Telmessos back from Rhodes again.

Telmessos fell in hands of the Byzantine Empire and was named after the Byzantine conqueror Anastasius II. The name changed into Anastasiupolis, however this did not last long as well. In 1424 Anastasiupolis was united with the Ottoman Empire and was named “Makri” (far city). This name changed into “Megri” later on and in 1934 it was named after Mr. Fethi, one of the first Turkish pilots of the airforce who did not survive the plane crash in 1914. Today this beautiful place is called Fethiye.

According to a French researcher C. Texier, the temple of Apollon and the theater could still be seen in the year 1850. In 1856 everything got destroyed by a big earthquake. Hundred years later all history disappeared by a second big earthquake.

After the biggest earthquake of 1957, Fethiye is renovated and turned into a picturesque fishermen's place with some marks from the past here and there. Thanks to the excavations in 1993 the theater near the quay became visible.

The tower was one of the first cultivations after the first earthquake in 1856. It was surrounded by a fortress with city walls. The Rodian knights have used these walls to keep an eye on the city. Sovalye (knight) Island was also an ideal place for the knights to check on the city.

The tomb of Aminthas is considered as one of the symbols of Fethiye. It can be seen from nearly every corner of the city. The grave belongs to Aminthas, son of Hermepias and is built in the year 400 B.C. C. Texier visited the grave in the year 1850, he has signed his name on the upper left corner of the door of the tomb, as if he wanted to show that the grave still existed that year. Next to the grave of Aminthas more king graves can be visited.

Fethiye is surrounded by other interesting places to visit. Below are some examples from antique cities:

<<<BACK