The origins of the settlement of Patara date back to the beginning of the Early Chalcolithic (ca. 5500 BC), based on the archaeological data obtained from excavations. It is known that the name of the city was “Patar” in the 2nd millennium BC in connection with the Lukka expedition of the Hittite king Tuthaliya IV in the late 13th century BC.

Patara was mentioned by historians such as Hekataios of Miletus and Herodotus of Halicarnassus, who lived in the 6th and 5th centuries BC, in connection with the prophecy of the god Apollo. According to ancient sources, the god Apollo performed his prophecies six months of the year on the island of Delos and the other six months in Patara.

Before the Macedonian king Alexander the Great entered Anatolia and Lycia in 334/333 BC, Patara was caught between the two great powers of the time, the Persian Empire and the Delian League. The city managed to maintain its commercial and military relations with the advantage of its strategic port.

Between ca. 287-197 BC, Patara fell under the rule of the Ptolemaic Kingdom in Egypt and its name was changed in honor of Arsinoe, the wife of Ptolemy Philadelphos II. The city came under the control of the Seleucid dynasty in ca. 197-189/188 BC and played an important role in the Roman Republic's struggle for dominance in Asia Minor. Hannibal of Carthage is known to have used Patara as a base while commanding the Seleucid navy.

After the Treaty of Apameia (188/187 BC), Lycia was left by the Romans under the rule of their ally Rhodes. During the Hellenistic Period, Patara, as the capital of Lycia, carried the title of caput gentis, which means “head of the Lycian lineage”. In this period when Lycia acted in line with the idea of “Unity”, Patara was given the honor of being the capital of the union.

In 43 AD, Lycia lost its independence and became a Roman province by order of the Roman Emperor Claudius. In the new order, Patara became the capital of the “Lycian Province”. In 73/74 AD, Emperor Vespasianus united Lycia and Pamphylia to form a double province called “Lycia et Pamphylia” and the capital of this new province was again Patara.

With the spread of Christianity in the 4th century AD, Patara became an important religious center. St. Nicholas, known as Santa Claus, was born in Patara in this century. In addition, Bishop Eudemos represented Lycia at the Council of Nicaea in 325 AD, and Eudemos II came to the fore at the Council of Constantinople in 381 AD. The sarcophagus tomb of Eudemos II was found in a church during excavations in Patara.

Late period and Ottoman era

Patara retained its strategic importance as an important naval base of the Eastern Roman Empire in the 10th century AD. There are different opinions about the fall of the city from the control of the Eastern Roman Empire. While some sources suggest that this process was carried out by Turkmen forces after 1191, other sources suggest that Turkmen forces captured Patara after the invasion of Isparta by the Greek Seljuk Sultan Rükneddin Süleyman II in 1203-1204. In the process, Patara became the first port in the Mediterranean to come under Seljuk control. In 1211, the city was officially included in the borders of the Seljuk state.

In the 14th century, the Icelandic traveler Sir John Mandeville mentioned that pilgrims visited the city of "Patera" where St. Nicholas was born. This record suggests that a seminary for St. Nicholas was still operating in Patara in the 14th century.

Between the 13th and 15th centuries AD, Patara's port began to fill with alluvium carried by the Eşen River, weakening the city's role in maritime trade. In the early 15th century, with the defeat of the Beylik of Menteşe against the Ottomans, Patara was annexed by the Ottomans in 1424.

In 1478 AD, Cem Sultan came to Patara on the orders of his father Mehmet the Conqueror to sign a treaty with the Rhodians. This event is the last important development mentioned about Patara in the historical records. Cem Sultan crossed from the port of Patara to Rhodes.

In 1906, by the order of Sultan Abdülhamit II, the first wireless telegraph station of the Ottoman Empire was built in Patara. This station played a crucial role in the Ottoman connection with North Africa during the Italo-Turkish War. However, these structures were rendered useless by the attack of the Italian navy in 1911.