MARMARİS CASTLE

 

    
            Heredotus states that castle was built in 3000 BC. Physkos (Marmaris) which has was a Caria city in that period was a transition point between the Aegean Sea and the Mediterranean as it is now. The port of the city, with its trade routes opening Rhodes and Egypt had been significant throughout the ages.


        During the reign of Gazi Ahmet Bey in Menteşe Seigniory in the beginning of 15th Century, the castle and its port were repaired. Ottoman Sultan Suleiman the Magnificent, on a military expedition to Rhodes on 22nd of July 1522, commanded to repair the castle in order to use it as a military base. Hafsa Sultan Caravanserai is located in entrance of the narrow street with steps to the castles. It is understood from an inscription above the entrance that the Ottoman Sultan, Suleiman the Magnificent had made the Hafsa Sultan Caravanserai built in the name of his mother Hafsa Sultan in 1545. It was built for the purposes of accommodation and trade during the Rhodes expedition. The Caravanserai is two-storied and has a rectangular plan with one large and seven small rooms and a Turkish bath. Downstairs was used for the stores and upstairs was for accommodation and the top was covered with vault. The Caravanserai and the Marmaris Castle have an entireness specific for complex structures of the period. 


    In 1913, a German ship escaped from the French cruisers and by passing the strait of Marmaris took refuge in the port. The Turkish soldiers protecting the port did not surrender the German ship to the French and duly performed their duty. Thereupon, the French ships mined the port. Leyneli Cavit Bey, the security officer of the Castle and Ömer Efendi, the gunnery officer, demined and rendered about 48 mines harmless overnight. Faced with this situation in July and August of 1914, the French ships bombarded the Marmaris Castle. The cannon shot caused great damage in the castle and most of it is destroyed. Afterwards, the French navy disembarked but had to go back to the sea against the superhuman efforts of the two officers and the heroic resistance of the Turkish soldiers to protect the castle. 

        The castle populated by the people of Marmaris from the Pre-Republic until recently is known to have 18 houses, one fountain and a cistern. Marmaris Castle is a monument that has been registered as a cultural asset in order to be protected. The interior of the castle being restored and transformed into the Archaeological Museum and the garden are opened to public in 1991. There are totally seven closed room. Barrel- vaulted entrance opens onto the interior garden. The stairs on the left and right sides in the courtyard provide access to the walls. Indoor facilities that are covered with barrel vaults are used as exhibition halls today. The courtyard of the museum is also used as open exhibition area. The artifacts from Protohistoric Ages Archaic, Classical, Hellenistic, Roman and Eastern Roman (Byzantine) periods to the Republican Period are being displayed in the Museum.

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