Intersection point of the Aegean Sea and the Mediterranean Sea: Marmaris

Part of the Mediterranean Sea between Turkey and Greece is the Aegean Sea. This is what the two neighbours call the part of the Mediterranean Sea between them. The Aegean Sea is connected to the Black sea by the Çanakkale and İstanbul straits.

Turkey ’s long peninsula coast lines both the Aegean and the Mediterranean Sea.

The answer to the question “ where do the Mediterranean Sea and the Aegean Sea meet” is Marmaris.

Marmaris splits the Mediterranean Sea and the Aegean Sea with a long and narrow peninsula. The Marmaris Peninsula has always been an important part of the history of the Mediterranean Civilization with its strategic geographic position and its natural beauty and rich past.

The Aegean played an important role in the development of the waterline civilization between the Mediterranean Islands and the shores of European Continent and East Mediterranean.

Trade ships had to cross the Aegean Sea in order to go to west or to east. The safest way to do this was either to reach the east shores of Anatolia or to weigh anchor and move away from that shore. Aegean shores were full of countless indentation s, in other words natural ports. A safe haven against winds and storms.

The Mediterranean Sea was not as rich in fish life as the Black sea. The Mediterranean people used to live on what they harvested from the sea and the land. It has been like this throughout known history. It is same today as well. The relatively poor fish stocks of the Mediterranean Sea forced people living there to rely on trading. The first steps in sea trading in the world developed in the Mediterranean, as did the skills of seamanship.

The Mediterranean not being generous as a food source was however very convenient as a transportation medium. The geographic structure of the coasts facilitated the work of the trading ships. At first, the ports and then the cities around the ports were established and they developed quickly. The building blocks of today’s civilization started to be put one on the top of the other in this region. The Aegean / Mediterranean Civilization was born.

What changed from history to today?..

The Marmaris Peninsula, laying between the Aegean and the Mediterranean, used to host numerous ports and towns. Today’s big ships don’t need a port to take shelter in against every storm. But the Mediterranean is still very generous to people living on her coasts. The blue seas still support the traditional old fishing boats, while the green bays accommodate numerous ports now serving people as their tourism destinations.

The most beautiful bay of the Turkish coasts, or more bravely, of the whole Mediterranean - Gökova, is to the west of Marmaris on the west coast of the peninsula in Aegean waters .

The east side of the peninsula faces the Mediterranean and lays as two strips. Forking as Datça on one side and Bozburun on the other side. These are in Mediterranean waters.

It is not just the sea or the nature that attracts people to Marmaris from all over the world. Not even the rich history reaching from past civilizations to today. There must be something more. We shall let an expert talk on the Mediterranean history. Fernand Braudel in his book named “ Mediterranean” says:

“What is this Mediterranean? All of a thousand things. Not one landscape, countless landscapes. Not one sea, many seas following each other. Not one civilization, many civilizations piled on each other”.

Marmaris is a place sheltering many of these landscapes, seas and civilizations.

The old trade ships are replaced by yachts with colorful sails decorating the modern marinas and by comfortable passenger ships. Airport traffic is heavy. Tens of thousands of people from numerous countries, different nations come for their vacations.