Where does the name Fethiye come from?

Fethiye has its origins in ancient times. During the ancient period, the Lycians, meaning “the people of the Light Homeland,” inhabited this region and named it Telmessos.

Telmessos (Fethiye) came under the rule of the Persians in 545 BC (6th century BCE) and surrendered to Alexander the Great in 333 BC (4th century BCE). After Alexander’s death, Telmessos remained under the rule of the Egyptian king Ptolemy for a while. Later, it was occupied by the Roman Empire, and during this period, the city was called “Meğri” meaning “distant land.”

Following the division of the Roman Empire, Fethiye (Meğri) remained within the Eastern Roman/Byzantine Empire’s borders. In 1282, Mentese Bey, one of the founders of the Mentese Principality, captured Meğri from the Byzantines. In 1424, it became part of the Ottoman territories.

During the Ottoman period, Meğri was transformed into a subdistrict in 1874.

With the establishment of the Republic, the district, which had become part of the Muğla Province, was renamed Fethiye in 1934 “in memory of FETHİ Bey”, one of the first pilots martyred in 1913 when his plane was shot down near Teberiye after taking off from Damascus.