Fethiye was formerly known as
Makri (), Modern 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 main quay. 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 He disguises himself as a small dog and thus, gains the love of the shy, withdrawn daughter.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
Persian Empire after the invasion of the Persian general
Harpagos in 547 BC, along with other Lycian and
Carian cities. Telmessos then joined the
Attic-Delos Union (
Delian League) 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. . Very little is known of the city during the
Byzantine times. Surviving buildings attest to considerable prosperity during
late Antiquity, 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. 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 was conquered by the Turks in the late 12th or early 13th century. Telmessos was ruled by the
Anatolian beylik of
Menteşe starting in 1284, under the name
Beskaza. It became part of the
Ottoman Empire in 1424, and was called مكرى
Meğri until 1934. From 1867 until 1922, Meğri was part of the
Aidin Vilayet of the
Turkish Empire. The town grew considerably in the 19th century, and had a large
Greek population at that time. On 3 August 1953,
Air France Flight 152, while en route from
Rome to
Beirut, ditched into the
Gulf of Fethiye 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 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==