Marmaris Castle is an old medieval citadel situated in Muğla Province of Turkey.
Location: Muğla Province Map
Constructed: 1522 by the Ottoman sultan Süleyman the Magnificent
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Marmaris Castle is a historical castle located in the Marmaris district of Muğla. The castle was rebuilt by the Ottoman sultan Suleiman I during the Rhodes campaign.
The famous historian Herodotus wrote that the first
city walls in Marmaris were built in 3,000 BC. The castle, built in the
2nd millennium BC, was first repaired during the Ionian period (1044 BC)
and later after the Macedonian King Alexander conquered Marmaris.
The only written source written by the Ottoman traveler Evliya
Çelebi about the construction of the Castle is his work Seyahatname.
Çelebi, who visited Muğla and its surroundings in the 17th century,
wrote that Suleiman I ordered the construction of the castle before his
expedition to Rhodes and that the castle served as a military base
during the campaign.
During World War I, the walls of the castle
were damaged by cannon fire from French warships. People from Marmaris
were inhabited in the castle until 1979.
Marmaris Castle is one of the few castles in Turkey
that also has a museum. The castle, which was restored between 1980 and
1990, was opened as a museum in 1991 by the Ministry of Culture and
Tourism of the Republic of Turkey. Marmaris Archeology Museum, which has
been open to public visits since then, is located inside the castle.
There are a total of 18 rooms, a fountain and an ark in the museum.
The museum has 7 indoor spaces, 2 archeology halls and 1 ethnography
hall. Other parts of the museum are divided into exhibition halls and
warehouses.
Various amphora artifacts from the Hellenistic, Roman
and Byzantine periods are exhibited in the archaeological section of the
museum. In addition, pottery and glassware, coins and ornaments
unearthed as a result of archaeological excavations in various ruins in
the region such as Knidos, Burgazada and Hisarönü are other artifacts in
the museum. Various items, tools and equipment from the Ottoman period
are exhibited in the ethnography section of the museum.
In the
museum inventory; It has been announced that there are a total of 14
thousand 984 registered works in various categories such as
archaeological remains, coins and ethnographic works. The museum, which
was visited by 19,708 tourists in the first 5 months of 2018, is among
the 22 museums that generate the highest income in Turkey, according to
2017 statistics.
Marmaris Castle is located in the Marmaris district of Muğla. The castle is located in the transition zone between the Aegean Sea and the Mediterranean. Due to its location, it has a dominant position over the city.