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is a Turkish port town in Muğla Province, in the southwestern Aegean Region of the country. It is located on the southern coast of Bodrum Peninsula, at a point that checks the entry into the Gulf of Gökova, and it faces the Greek island of Kos. Today, it is an international center of tourism and yachting. The city was called Halicarnassus of Caria in ancient times. The Mausoleum of Mausolus, one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World, was here.
The first recorded settlers in Bodrum region were the Carians and the harbor area was colonized by Dorian Greeks as of the 7th century BC and the city later fell under Persian rule. It was the nominal capital city of the satrapy of Caria. Its location ensured the city enjoyed considerable autonomy. Herodotus, the historian, (484-420 BC) was born here. Mausolus ruled Caria from here on behalf of the Persians, from 377 to 353 BC. When he died in 353 BC, Artemisia II of Caria, who was both his sister and his widow, employed the ancient Greek architects Satyros and Pythis, and the four sculptors Bryaxis, Scopas, Leochares and Timotheus for to build a monument, as well as a tomb, for him. The word "mausoleum" derives from the structure of this tomb. It was a temple-like structure decorated with reliefs and statuary on a massive base. It stood for 1700 years and was finally destroyed by earthquakes.[citation needed] Today only the foundations and a few pieces of sculpture remain. Alexander the Great laid siege on the city after his arrival in Carian lands and its capture was, in all likelihood, completed by his ally, queen Ada of Caria.
In 1522, Suleyman the Magnificent conquered the base of the Crusader knights on the island of Rhodes, who then withdrew to Malta, leaving The Castle of Saint Peter and Bodrum to the Ottoman Empire. |
Bodrum Castle
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Flower of Life design in mosaic at the castle |
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artists impression of the tomb of King Mausolus ( the Mausoleum ) |
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the English Tower at the castle where those of the Knights of St John who were English speaking were based - it now houses a varity of things - a couple of stuffed lions , some antlers , a model of a ship and a collection of Turkish flags incuding a prite one with a skull and sabre in white on red |
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starlings swirl around the rigging of the ships at dusk |
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