BODRUM IN HISTORY

     Todays Bodrum was founded on Halicarnassos which was the second capital of Caria after Mylasa. Dorians first came to the city around 1000 B.C. The first settlement in Halikarnassos where there is a castle today, which was known in old ages as Zephyra. Halicarnassos was one of the 6 Dorian cities. When they were removed from the Union, they rapidly became Ionic. The first satrapy of the city was Hyssaldomus. Hekatomnos becomes the second satrap after the death of his father in 387 B.C. In the time of Mausolus who was one of the 3 sons of Hekatomnos the town was developed rapidly. Artemisia comes power after the death of Mausolus. Idrieus, Ada, Piksadoros become the next satraps of of the town in turn in order.
Halicarnassos never recovers after the destruction of Alexander the Great in 334 B.C.

Bodrum Castle;  ( click for Bodrum Castle virtual Tour )
    Bodrum Castle was built by the St. Jean Knights on the site of a Turkish Castle built by sailors of the Menteşe Principality in 1261-1269 on a peninsula which came into being in 1st century A.D. when an island known as Zephyra during the Stone Age joined the mainland. After the Ankara Battle in 1403, the St. Jean Knights asked Mehmet Çelebi for a site to built a castle as a recompense for their demolished castle in Izmir and Mehmet Çelebi gave permission to the St. Jean Knights to build a castle in Bodrum. The most important European nations started to build the castle 500 years ago in 1406 under the leadership of the St. Jean Knights. The construction continued intermittently until the end of 1522. There are French, British, German, Italian and Spanish towers in the Castle.

   After Sultan Süleyman the Magnificent’s Rhodes campaign in 5 January 1523, Bodrum Castle was captured by the Ottomans. It began to be used as a prison in 1895 during Abdulhamit II’s reign. It was abandoned in 26 May 1915 after being bombarded by British and French battle ships. The Museum Directorship was established in 1963 and in 6 November 1964 the first exhibition hall was opened. The Bodrum Underwater Archaeology Museum is Turkey’s only Underwater Archaeology Museum and it is one of the world’s most important Underwater Archaeology Museums.

   Bodrum Castle has a square-like plan. Its dimensions are 180x185m. Its highest point is 47.5 m above sea level. The castle is entered through the first door situated at its northwestern corner. There are 7 doors until the inner castle. The northern and western sides of the castle are double-walled. The northern and western ditches were passed through suspension bridges during the Knights’ time. The thick walled structure with a sloping roof at the west side of the castle is a cannon blockhouse. All the towers and various places in Bodrum Castle have been converted into exhibition halls.

Historical Places

Sight Seeing in Bodrum

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