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FETHIYE
Fethiye is a city and district of Muğla Province in the Aegean region of Turkey with about 68,000 inhabitants(2008). Modern day Fethiye is located on the site of the ancient city of Telmessos, the ruins of which can be seen in the city, e.g. the Hellenistic theatre by the mainquay.
The history of Fethiye, known as Telmessos in the antique period, and the most important city of LYCIA -one of the oldest Anatolian Civilisations- reaches far back to 5th century BC.
A Lycian legend explains the source of the name Telmessos as follows: " The god Apollo falls in love with the youngest daughter of the King of Phoenicia, Agenor. He disguises himself as a small dog and thus gains the love of the shy, withdrawn daughter.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, whom they name 'Telmessos' (the land of lights). The city became part of the first state of the Persians after the invasion of the Persian King Harpagos in 547 BC., along with other Lycian and Carian cities. Telmessos then joined theAttic-Delos Union established in mid. 5th century BC. and, although it later left the union and became an independent city, continued its relations with the union till 4th century BC.
Legend says that Alexander the Great, on a mission to invade Anatolia in the winter of 334-333 BC, entered Telmessos harbour with his fleet. The commander of the fleet, Nekros, asks permission of King Antipatrides of Telmessos for his musicians and slaves to enter the city. On getting the permission, the warriors with weapons hidden in the flute boxes capture the acropolis during the feasts held at night.
After being taken over in 1284 by Menteseogullari, a Turkish nation migrating from Central Asia into Asia Minor, the city was named Megri, meaning 'far city', and was included in the Ottoman Empire in 1424.
In 1934, the city was renamed as FETHIYE in honor of Fethi Bey, a martyr pilot of the Turkish War of Independence.
An interesting peculiarity of the ancient city is the fame of its oracles. The oracles of Telmessos, devoted to Apollo, have had great impact on the course of ancient history
It is one of Turkey's well-known tourist centres and is especially prized during the summer.
In the last ten years Fethiye has become a magnet for British citizens. Apart from its climate and natural beauty, the Britons are attracted by its less expensive lifestyle and the hospitality of the local people. The British population in Turkey is between 34,000 and 38,000. As a result of the large British population and the high numbers of Britons going there for holiday, Fethiye-Öludeniz was chosen as the best tourism centre in the world by The Times and The Guardian newspapers in 2007. Over 7,000 British citizens permanently live in Fethiye, while approximately 600,000 British tourists visit the town every summer.
The Fethiye Museum, which is very rich in ancient and more recent artifacts, displays and testifies to the successive chain of civilizationsthat existed in the area, starting with the ancient Lycians.
Fethiye was formerly known as Makri (Μάκρη); the Greeks deported from the area under the terms of the 1923exchange of populations between Greece and Turkey founded the town of Nea Makri (New Makri) in Greece.
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