
he city became a part of the Ottoman Empire in 1425, and the castle was built in 1521 A.D. For use in a planned assault on Rhodes. The Ottoman Sultan at the time Kanuni Sultan Süleyman, change the name of the town to Mimaras, which then became Marmaris according to the historian Evliya Celebi.
A local rumour has it that the reason for the change of name to Mimaras was that Süleyman, on returning from his expedition to Rhodes, disliked the castle and said: mimaras! Which means: hang the architect.