Kahramanmaras is a city in the Mediterranean Region of Turkey and the administrative center of Kahramanmaras Province. Before 1973, Kahramanmaras was named Maras. The city lies on a plain at the foot of the Ahir Dagi (Ahir Mountain) and has a population of 1,112,634 as of 2017. The region is best known for its distinctive ice cream, and its production of salep, a powder made from dried orchid tubers. Kahramanmaras Airport has flights to Istanbul and Ankara. It was the site of massacres in 1920 and 1978.

During Ottoman rule, the city was initially the centre of Eyalet of Dulkadir (also called Eyalet of Zûlkâdiriyye) and then an administrative centre of a sanjak in the Vilayet of Aleppo.

After the First World War, Marash was controlled by British troops between 22 February 1919 and 30 October 1919, then by French troops, after the Armistice of Mudros. It was taken over by the Turkish National Movement after the Battle of Marash on 13 February 1920. Afterward a massacre of Armenian civilians took place. Roving Turkish bands threw kerosene-doused rags on Armenian homes and laid a constant barrage upon the American relief hospital. The Armenians themselves, as in previous times of trouble, sought refuge in their churches and schools. Women and children found momentary shelter in Marash's six Armenian Apostolic and three Armenian Evangelical churches, and in the city's sole Catholic cathedral. All the churches, and eventually the entire Armenian districts, were set alight. When the 2,000 Armenians who had taken shelter in the Catholic cathedral attempted to leave, they were shot. Early reports put the number of Armenians dead at no less than 16,000, although this was later revised down to 5,000–12,000.

In 1973, Marash's name was changed to Kahramanmaras when the Turkish government added "Kahraman" to the name, in reference to the resistance to the French occupation after the First World War. Kahraman means "hero" in Turkish.

In December 1978, the Maras Massacre of leftist Alevis took place in the city. A Turkish nationalist group, the Grey Wolves, incited the violence that left 800-1000 dead. The incident was important in the Turkish government's decision to declare martial law, and the eventual military coup in 1980.