THE PEARL OF TURKEY "MARMARIS"

In winter it is a small fishing town. But in summer Marmaris is an attractively organized tourist resort. It is situated on the Aegean coast at the center of a scenically beautiful area of southern Turkey. The town lying at the head of a sparkling fjord is surrounded by pine covered hills with a backdrop of mountains. Old Marmaris is clustered around an 11C AD Ottoman castle and many houses which have been restored to their original appearances. The appeal of Marmaris is not the works of man but those of nature. Nature has endowed Marmaris with a wonderful harbor. There are regular ferry boat services to Rhodes from Marmaris. Marmaris is the best place to charter a Blue Cruise heading east along the Lycian coast.

There are three ways of reaching Caunos which attract great attention today owing to its Venetian type of channel, Lycian type of tombs and its ruined remains. The visitors who come by means of their yachts, land on the island named Delikli Ada and reach the site of the ruins by starting off in small boats from here; those who come from Marmaris by sea route, drop anchor in the vicinity of Delikli Ada and also reach the site of the ruins in small boats; and those who come by land route, reach the ruins by starting boats from the Village of Dalyan which is at a distance of 27 km from Köycegiz.

The existence of the ruins of Caunos was first discovered in the year 1842, and excavations have been carried on there by the Turkish archeologists under the supervision of Prof. Baki Ogun since 1967. Caunos, the son of Miletos, had been indicated as the founder of the city and therefore, it had been named Caunos. The city was first captured by the Persians and then by Alexander and in the year 189 B.C., it was made subject to the Kingdom of Rhodes. We know that it continued until the year 167 B.C. Caunos was subjected to the Kingdom of Pergamon and was brought directly under the sovereignty of Rome after 133 B.C. You reach the site of the ruins by means of channel adorned with Lycian type tombs belonging to the 4th century B.C. The first place that we see is the acropolis of Caunos. The northern part of the city wall, which surrounds the acropolis. belongs to the period of Mausolos. The northwestern part has Hellenistic qualities. And starting from the harbor are seen the city walls of Cyclopean type belonging to' the Archaic Period. The theater belonging to the Roman Period is located at the skirt of the acropolis and its southern part is carved in the rock; the other parts are shaped into seats supported by gable roof vaults. There are 33 rows of seats, the scene has collapsed and the part of the orchestra has been filled in.

A temple, revealed by the recent excavations, is located at far west of the theater, and a church and the magnificent walls of the Roman Bath are visible beyond it. Another temple belonging to the Roman Period is located behind the bath. As we go downwards, we see the remains of a wall built in the shape of three-fourths of a circle with a row of columns on it and, behind it, a temple of the Doric order. The locality called Sülüklü Göl (Lake of Leeches) in Caunos today, was a harbor closed by means of chains during the Antique Period. The excavations performed at the north of this harbor have revealed a stoa which used to form a part of the Port Agora. The fountain near the stoa has a plan of in antis. style and has been restored recently, and the inscription which- is seen on its side facing the harbor, contains the written decrees concerning the customs house.