The early history of Marmaris is a bit of a mystery. Under the romans it was a village called Physcus, attached to the city of Lindus. By the 4th Century BC it was Rhodian. Suleyman the Magnificent's naval assault on Rhodes was launched from Marmaris and the fleet that gathered here in 1522 was composed of 700 ships the 60,000 men they carried met Suleymasn's army of 140,000 who had marched from Istanbul.
In 1798 Nelson's fleet also assembled here before sailing to Egypt.

Sites
The most obvious piece of old stuff in Marmaris itself is the castle, dating from 1522 and the reign of the above mentioned Suleyman, it's good for half an hour or so and houses the ethnography museum. North of the town on Asar tepe you can find some bits and pieces of Physcus in the form of Clasical and Hellenistic fortifications.

The more picturesque things to see are located on the Loryma peninsula, south of the town and are best visited by boat. The sites you may see include:

• Amos - an hour by boat, a hellenistic wall with some towers. Foundations of a small temple and a nice theatre.
• Loryma - Boat access only, main feature of this ancient city is the fort. Loryma served as a harbor for various naval commaders including Conon the Athenian (oh yes) and a Demetrius who was trying to capture Rhodes - he failed.

Knidos
If you want to see something old and spectacular then push on to Knidos, past Datca at the end of the big peninsula. Knidos (Cnidus) has lots of history and is great fun to wander around. There are a couple of theories surrounding its origins but it probably dates from about 900 BC, when it was founded a little north of the site that you see today. The nature of this promotory's terrain meant that it was much easier for the Cnidians to expand their influence by see than by land and within a couple of hundred years they had settlements in Sicily and were actively trading with the Egyptians. Cnidus was doing very well for itself. Then, in the 6th cebtury BC, the Persian started whooping it up and, in an attempt to avoid invasion, the Cnidians started digging a channel from Aegean to Mediterranean across their peninsula, hoping to turn it into an island. Upon consulting the oracle at Delphi the citizens were advised to give up this effort. They surrendered their city to a Persian general.
When the Persians were persuded to leave again the city joined the Delian League, then sided with Sparta for a while before swinging back to Athens. The King's Peace, signed in 386 BC returned Cnidus to Persian rule, only for it be liberated by Alexander in 334 BC.
Between those last two events the city moved from the location near Datca out to the tip of the peninsula. From there it could provide harbour facilities to coastal ships forced to wait for favourable weather to round the cape. The city prospered and was the home of several influential thinkers including Eudoxus of Cnidus - credited with the invention of the sundial and the discovery of a star or two - and Sostratus, architect of the Pharos lighthouse of Alexandria. Famous for the quality of its vinegar and wine, the city didn't begin to decline in importance until the 1C BC.
The ruins of the city began to draw attention from classicists in the early 19th century. In common with other sites of antiquity, some of the best bits have been carted off to various European museums. What's left is still fairly impressive and if you think you'll make it out there then check out our summary.

Beaches | Marmaris