The world-famous Bodrum Peninsula is one of Turkey’s corners of paradise with its 3,500-year history, culture and art inherited from ancient civilizations, natural beauties, original architecture, agricultural riches, gastronomy, climate, sea and magnificent bays, entertainment life that lasts until the morning, quality and different concept accommodation facilities that meet all your needs.
Bodrum, which has fascinated mankind since the ages before Christ, contains the traces of various cultures and civilizations such as Leleg, Carian, Persian, Dor, Helen, Roman, Byzantine and Ottoman from antiquity to the present.
Halicarnassus, which was called the “Paradise of Eternal Blues” by the famous historian Homer, was founded on the lands that were the intersection point of Greek and Anatolian civilizations. Archaeological finds belonging to various civilizations indicate that the region and its surroundings have a history of seven thousand years. Halicarnassus, one of the most important port cities of the Caria Region in ancient times, raised many important people such as Herodotos, known as the father of history, and Artemisia I, the first female admiral of history.
It is said that the adventure of mankind in Bodrum has a history that goes back to 3,000 years. Historian Herodotos (484 BC) from Bodrum writes that the city was founded by the Dorians around 1.000 BC where the castle is located today. Back then, this place was an island.
The Carians came under the rule of the Lydians in the 6th century BC, and then the Persians. Persians divided Anatolia into satrapies. The Caria Region was ruled by the Hekatomnos Family. Mausolos brought the capital of the Carian Satrap from Mylasa to Halicarnassus and had the city rebuilt. Halicarnassus experienced its brightest period in these years. During his 24-year rule, Mausolos started to build the tomb monument, which is known as the Mausolleion and is one of the seven wonders of the world. After his death, his wife and sister Artemisia II continued the construction of the monument.
In 334 BC, Macedonian King Alexander the Great conquered the lands in Anatolia under Persian rule. After the city was burned and destroyed by Alexander, it could not recover. After the death of Alexander, the region was ruled by his generals for a while, then came under the rule of the Ptolemies and Rhodes, but Halicarnassus preserved its independence like other coastal cities. In 133 BC, when the Romans established the Asian State in Anatolia as the heir of the Pergamon Kingdom, Caria was included in this state. After the division of Rome into two (324 AD), it became a bishopric under the Aphrodisias Metropolitan.
The city passed into the hands of the Turks in the last quarter of the XI century. It joined the territory of Menteşe Principality in the 19th century. With the conquest of Rhodes by Suleiman the Magnificent, Bodrum joined the territory of the Ottoman Empire. It was occupied by the Italians at the end of the First World War (11 May 1919), and the Italian occupation ended in the War of Independence -05.07.1921-.
THE NAME OF BODRUM CAME FROM THE KNIGHTS OF ST PETRIUM.
The name Bodrum comes from the knights of St Petrium, one of the founders of the Castle. At that time, this name, pronounced as BODRUM by the Turks living here, became definite as Bodrum with the establishment of the Republic.
Bodrum, which had a population of approximately 5000 in the first years of the Republic, was known as a small port town that made its living by fishing, sponge diving and agriculture before tourism. Since 1965, with the development of tourism, population growth and construction started to make Bodrum a rapidly developing tourism center. Today, Bodrum is a tourism center in the most special and beautiful geography of the world, attracting attention with its cultural and historical richness and increasing its attraction with these features.
THE GUIDE BODRUM
When you open the pages of Bodrum peninsula’s rich history as much as its natural beauties, you can taste the privilege of discovering hidden treasures.
Letter from Chris Drum Berkaya
How old is the history of the Bodrum peninsula? More than 5,000 years! Archaeologists examining the Cheese Flower Cave in Gündoğan in 1991 found painted ceramic pots and jars from the Chalcolithic (Copper-Stone) age (5,000 – 3,000 BC) and a stone axe. This discovery is important in that it is an example of a Chalcolithic cave settlement, which is rarely seen in Western Anatolia. The Bronze Age (3,000-1,200 BC) was an active period when copper-tin alloy tools and bronze weapons were made in Anatolia. Late Bronze Age Mycenaean tombs dating to 1,400-1,200 BC have also been found on the peninsula.
During the migrations after the Trojan Wars around 1000 BC, the Dorians from Greece and the Aegean Islands established a settlement on the small island in the gulf, which they called Halicarnassus. The Dorians lived together with the Carian and Leleg tribes who lived in the interior and preserved their identity until 400 BC.
Leleg Route
The Leleges lived in settlements that they built on eight different hills with dry stone walls using their own method. The ancient city of Pedasa, which is known to belong to the Leleges and is located on the Konacık hills today, is one of the historical spots worth seeing. Other ancient hill settlements include Syangela and Theangela on the Alazeytin and Çiftlik villages, Telmissos above Gürece and Termera on the Bağla ridges. Today, remnants of structures and walls from these ancient sites still lie along the road, and some roads near the Leleg Road are even in such good condition that you can walk around and visualize the area at that time.
The Carians, on the other hand, are the ancient people who gave their name to the Caria region, which stretches from the Menderes Valley, where Lake Bafa is located, to the ancient city of Kaunos in Dalyan. Homer tells that the Carians, known as mercenaries, fought as allies of the Trojans. Halicarnassus was also an ally of the Ionians between 700 and 500 BC, when the cities of Caria were under the control of the Northern Lydian Kingdom, whose center was in Sardis, until the death of King Karun.
Next to the Bodrum Castle walls, there is the statue of three famous ancient figures of Halicarnassus: King Mausolos, his sister and wife II. The writer Herodotus (484-425 BC), known as the father of history, who told us the previous history of the region with Artemisia.
Bodrum Castle
At the end of the struggles between the Lydians and the ‘superpowers’ of the time, the Athenians and Persians, the Carians came under Persian rule and began to be ruled by satraps (governors) appointed from among the local people. The first satrap of Mylasa (now Milas), known as Hyssaldomos, was succeeded by his son Hekatomnos in 392 BC. Mausolos, son of Hekatomnos, who came to power in 377 BC, moved the center of the region to Halicarnassus and started a comprehensive reconstruction program in Hellenistic style.
Under this program, the peninsula population except Myndos (present-day Gumusluk) and Eastern Syangela was forcibly resettled in Halicarnassus. Mausolos had a palace built, the ruins of which were discovered during the archaeological excavations of Bodrum Castle. Today, parts of the city walls of Mausolos can be seen in Göktepe around the ancient theater.
The most impressive part of the city is the restored Myndos Gate, which is one of the two gates to the city.
Another prominent historical structure of Bodrum is the Ancient Theater with a capacity of 10,000 people. Although it was changed during the Roman Empire, it is one of the oldest theaters in Anatolia and can host 3,500 people even today, when it hosts Bodrum summer concerts.
Halicarnassus Mausoleum
Mausolos had begun to build a mausoleum for himself, to which he commissioned the best sculptors of his time. However, when he died after 24 years in power, his sister and wife Artemisia II completed the huge five-storey building, known as the Mausoleum of Halicarnassus. Three years later, the Queen was buried next to her husband, Mausolos. Known as one of the seven wonders of the Ancient World, the work also brought the word “mausoleum” (mausoleum) to world literature. The museum and excavation site located here allow us to visualize the magnificence of the period when the city of Halicarnassus was at its peak.
After Artemisia’s death, power successively passed to her brothers. In 344 BC, a powerful Macedonian army led by Alexander the Great came to the city’s gate. Although the city came close to inflicting a single defeat on Alexander the Great by fighting a relentless struggle under siege, when the final battle at the Myndos Gate was lost, the city was plundered and the structures other than the mausoleum were destroyed. Alexander gave Halikarnossos and Caria to his youngest sister Ada, whom Mausolos had expelled from the country when he was alive. The tomb containing the skeleton and the golden crown, which was found during an excavation in 1989, is thought to belong to Ada. One hall of the Bodrum Museum is devoted to restored ornaments, the sarcophagus and a life-size model of Ada.
The city, which could not recover itself after the plunder of Alexander the Great, lost its independence when it was included in the Asian province of the Roman Empire and was adversely affected by various wars of Rome. The navy of Brutus and Cassius, who set out to fight with Mark Antony and Cleopatra near Rhodes in 46 BC, stopped at the port of Myndos-Gümüşlük. Except for the underwater port walls, stone pylons and marble columns, not many structures have survived from Myndos, which was later a Roman-Byzantine port and city.
From 100 AD, the city, which had a peaceful process under the auspices of the Roman Empire, was ruled by the diocese in Aphrodisias after the adoption of Christianity as the official religion. Between the 4th and 6th centuries, the Byzantine port town of Strobilos was founded at the foot of the Aspat Mountain. During this period, it is thought that there was a large amount of pilgrim traffic between the monk monasteries of Kos and Iassos and Heraklia. During the excavations, at least one chapel belonging to this age was found.
After the Arab influx in the 7th century, the Byzantines ruled until the 11th century. Later, as a result of the Turkish tribes settling in Anatolia and the Menteşe Principalities seizing Halikarnassos, a small Turkish castle was built next to the Bodrum Castle. The mausoleum, which managed to survive for 1,500 years, was destroyed in a severe earthquake in the 13th century, and the knights used the stones from the ruins in the construction of Bodrum Castle. When you look closely at the castle walls, you can see different marble pieces and green andesite blocks specially extracted for the Mausoleum from the Koyunbabastone quarry, which can still be visited today.
The Ottoman Turks built settlements, mosques, and an inn, which is now used as a nightclub, in Bodrum. The most important work from the Ottoman Period is the Ottoman Tower, which is located inside the Milta Marina with its low stone wall and is now used as an art gallery. This tower was built to protect the shipyards that renewed the Ottoman navy lost in Çeşme during the Russian attack in 1770. It is possible to see many tombs from the Ottoman Period in the small cemetery in the garden of the Marina. At the same time, the Old Mosque (1723) and the Tepecik Mosque (1737) in the Harbor Square were built. The private property, which was once known as the ‘Pasha’s house’ and located in Bodrum Harbor, was restored by Ahmet Ertegun, the founder of Atlantic Records, who hosted world-famous guests here from the 70s to the 90s and contributed to the growth of tourism.
Eklisia
The chapels built by the Greek Orthodox during the Byzantine and Ottoman periods are also among the important historical structures of the peninsula. The main ones are Eklisia in Gümüşlük, Kadıkalesi Chapel and Gara Chapel in Bitez vineyard.
Bodrum Castle is the city’s most tangible link between the past and the present. The building, which was used as an Ottoman fortress and prison until 1915, was heavily damaged when it was bombed by a French warship during World War I.
In the early days of the Republic of Turkey, where there was no tourism boom in Bodrum yet, and the people of the region lived on agriculture and shipping, larger houses began to be built on stone windmills and tangerine and olive tree groves. The restored Bodrum Castle was opened to the public as the Bodrum Museum in 1964.
The maritime history of the city is told in the Bodrum Maritime Museum, where the personal belongings of Turkish writer Cevat Şakir Kabaağaçlı, who is identified with Bodrum under the pseudonym “The Fisherman of Halicarnassus”, are also exhibited. Kabaağaçlı’s books and articles contributed to the wide recognition of the city’s history and paved the way for Bodrum to become an important tourism region.
The famous phrase of Kabaağaçlı greets tourists at the entrance of Bodrum: “Yokuş başına geldiğinde Bodrum’u göreceksin, sanma ki geldiğin gibi gideceksin, senden öncekiler de böyleydiler, akıllarını Bodrum’da bırakıp gittiler” (“When you come to the top of the hill you will see Bodrum, do not think that you will leave as you came, those before you were like that, they left their minds in Bodrum”).
History Of Bodrum
Bodrum, whose mythological name is Halicarnassus, is thought to have been founded by the Carians in the XI century BC. Herodotus says that Halicarnassus was in the Hexapolis union, which included 6 cities founded by the Dorians in the VII century BC. Halikarnassos was expelled from the union after a Halicarnassian winner of a competition held in honor of Apollo refused to leave his prize to the temple.
It is known that the Lydian king Kraissos ruled the city in 550 BC. When the Lydian state disappeared from history in 546 BC, the Carians came under Persian rule. During the reign of Mausolos (377-351 BC), the capital, which was Mylasa (today’s Milas), was moved to Halicarnassus. In the city were the palace of Mausolos, the satrap of Caria, and Mausoloion, one of the seven wonders of the world.
Maussoloion is a work that could not be completed during the Mausolos period, its construction was continued by his sister and wife Artemis, but it was still not completed and was later completed by the architects with their own means. Unfortunately, the structure built as a tomb for Mousolos and the palace of Mausolos have not survived to the present day. The stones of the artifact, which was destroyed by a great earthquake, were later used by the Knights of St. John in the construction of Bodrum Castle.
Mausolos, who succeeded in the resistance that other Carian cities could not show in the region occupied by the Macedonians, managed to keep the city alive. The city, which became a satellite of Rome in 192 BC, came under the rule of the Rhodesian sailors in 189 BC, and of Mithridates, the king of Pantos for a short time in 88 BC. When it comes to the Roman period, it is known that Halicarnassus was located in the province of Asia.
The city passed into the hands of Anatolian Menteşe Principality in the second half of the XII century. It was ruled by the Knights of St. Sean John of Rhodes in the XIV century. The city was annexed to the Ottoman lands by the Turkish Sultan Suleiman the Magnificent in 1452. After that date, Bodrum, which had an important place in the Ottoman lands as a natural harbor as well as shipyards for the Ottoman Navy, remained a place of exile and an insignificant small town for a long time after the Republic. Bodrum, which started to develop after the 1970s, became one of the priority regions in tourism, and its star shone. Visited by many artists looking for a quiet town and longing to be alone with nature, Bodrum is one of Turkey’s most important tourism and entertainment centers today.
We can safely say that Bodrum has a reputation today in the heyday of Karya.
Windmills
The wind, whose power people have used for a long time, has been used for milling grains in Bodrum for years. The windmills, which are in ruins today, have been a source of livelihood and food for people in Bodrum and its surroundings for years.
It is possible to see Windmills on every hill of the Bodrum Peninsula, where there are no streams. In the mills built on the hills where cool winds prevail in the scorching heat of summer, the millers did the work of those who brought the wheat, again in exchange for some grain.
Today, windmills do not just tell history. These teach us lessons and guide us today by showing that our ancestors used to obtain clean and cheap energy years ago.
Gumbet
There are many cisterns built during the Ottoman period in Bodrum and all over the peninsula. Cisterns were water tanks with dome-shaped structures that collected rain water through holes under these. These collected waters were used for garden irrigation and for animals to drink. These were built by the wealthy of the period in their own name.
Turkish Baths
Turkish people are a clean nation with their historical nobility. After the conquest of Istanbul, they built thousands of baths in this city and all over the State, as a result of their acceptance of Islam and their meticulous implementation of the rules of cleanliness in Islam. In the seventeenth century, for example, there were 168 big bazaar baths in Istanbul alone, just as there was a private bath in every house as a requirement of the orders of Islam.
Turkish baths and their features:
Turkish baths are divided into three main parts. 1-Undressing places. 2- Washing places (Washing places are also divided into a) Cold room and b) Bath) 3- Heating place: Furnace (Külhan).
Dressing Places: There is a wide sofa and partitioned benches around it. People who are bathing lie down and rest on these benches.
Washing places: It is the part of the bath, which is entered through the cold room. This place is also divided into sections. The place where everyone is washed one by one, called “Basin” (Kurna başı), and closed and solitary bathing cells called “halvet”. And the “marble slab” on which you lie down and sweat. This is the place that was built higher than the marble-covered floor of the bath and can have various geometric shapes.
Heating place Furnace (Külhan):
This is under the bath. There is fire burning. The flame and smoke coming out of the fire passes through the walls, through special paths under the marble floor, and comes out of the chimney called “tüteklik”.
There is a hot water boiler on the stove in the furnace and a cold water tank on it. A few channels at the bottom of the hearth lead to the bottom of the navel stone in the middle of the bathing area. The effective flame and smoke of the wood burning in the hearth goes under the navel stone through these channels. Because the dark place under this stone gets very hot, it is called “hell”.
Bazaar baths are open to women on certain days of the week and men on other days. The “double baths” are two adjacent baths, one for women and the other for men. These baths are open every day.
Another aspect of Turkish baths is that they are “Finnish baths” based on steam baths. Today, in the world of sports, these baths are perfect for losing weight by sweating quickly. In this respect, all athletes benefit from Turkish baths.
Health benefits of baths
Baths are the best places for washing and cleaning the body with hot water and soap, provided that you do not stay for too long. Washing the sweating body by rubbing it with a soft cloth or sponge provides comfort by facilitating blood circulation in the body. Rubbing the body with hard scrubs can cause skin wounds. It should be avoided.
Used materials
Wooden clogs (takunya): Slippers made of wood
Peshtemal: A fabric made from a special cloth used to wrap around while taking a bath.
Camel-hair glove (kese): A cleaning material made of special glove fabric for cleaning the softened dirt from the body in a hot and steamy environment.
Clay: Oily soil that has been used for a long time in baths to clean hair and skin. Today, it has left its place to various cosmetic products.
Masseur (Tellak)
One of the most important features of the baths are masseurs. Masseurs are good massage experts as well as helping the bath customers to wash themselves. When you lie down on the navel stone of the bath and leave yourself to the hands of the tellak, you begin to feel all the bones and muscles in your body. You realize that there are muscles you forgot to train. When the cleaning and massage phases are over and you take a rest, you will be amazed to see how refreshed you are.
As in all parts of Turkey, very high quality Turkish baths are waiting for you in Bodrum. When you come to our district, make sure to try a Turkish bath.
Bodrum Castle
It was built by the Knights of Saint Jean on the island of Zephyria between 1406 and 1522. The castle, which was built after the eastern Turkish khan Timur (Tamerlane) occupied İzmir in 1402, and after the Seant Jean Knights destroyed their castles in Kos, Crete and Izmir, measures 180×185 meters and is on top of the French Tower, the English Tower, the Italian Tower, the German Tower and the German Tower. There are 5 towers, the Snake Tower. The highest point of the castle is the French Tower with 47.5 meters. Because the knights trusted their navy, they fortified all the walls except the sea side. These walls are reinforced with double body walls.
There are 249 coats of arms on the walls of the castle and 16 in the garden of the museum. It is not known what most of the coats of arms mean, as the paints on them are lost with the effect of time.
The castle courtyard stores the most famous trees and flowers of the ancient period. You can see plants and trees such as laurel, plane tree, olive, oleander, Mersin in the courtyard. It is known that the shadow of the plane tree was loved by the nobles in ancient times.
Bodrum was under the rule of Menteşe Principality in those days. The castle was used to control the region together with the Navangia castle built in Kos for a long time.
During the time the Bodrum Castle was controlled by the Knights, it housed 50 Knights and 150 soldiers. Fortress commanders were changed every two years.
The navy sent by the Turkish Sultan Fatih in 1480 for the conquest of Rhodes and Bodrum damaged the walls and towers of the castle, but failed to take it. The castle, which was taken by the Turks on January 5, 1523, after the conquest of Rhodes, was not used as a defense tool and was turned into a prison in 1895.
HISTORY
The castle is actually famous for its value as well as the stones used in its construction.
The stones of Maussolleion, which is considered one of the seven wonders of the world, were used in the construction of the castle, and it was created from Maussolleion, which was destroyed in a heavy earthquake.
During the First World War, the French Dubleix was bombed on May 26, 1915 by the British warships Bacchonte and Keret on May 28, and the castle was abandoned after the prisoners were moved to the interior. When Bodrum was occupied by the Italians on May 11, 1915, the castle began to be used as a headquarters.
During World War II, the Turkish Army used the castle until the end of the war. After this period, the castle, which was neglected for a long time, became a warehouse in 1960 when George F. Bens brought the sunken works of Autalya, Finilce, Gelidonya. In 1962, retired teacher Haluk Elbe was appointed to Bodrum to transform the Bodrum castle into a museum. On 6 November 1964, the Bodrum museum was opened to visitors.
The three-room building, which was built as an infirmary in the Ottoman period, was opened to visitors as the underwater works section. Currently, the Underwater Archeology Museum, which is the only museum in our country and one of the few in the world, is located in the castle.
Ottoman Tower
The story of the Ottoman Shipyard begins with the destruction of the Ottoman navy by the Russians at Çeşme Harbor in 1770.
In 1775, the first shipyard was established to the west of Bodrum Harbor for the construction of new ships needed. The shipyard, which built ships for the Ottoman Navy for a long time, was surrounded by walls and a tower was rising above the walls. This tower is known as the Ottoman tower today.
The shipyard and the Ottoman Tower, whose restoration works are still ongoing, are open to visitors.
Karia
Carians lived in today’s Milas long ago. Despite being of Asian origin, the Carians became Anatolian and sided with the Trojans against the invaders. Carians, who claimed to be natives of Ankara, were superior in bravery. This state, which was small but advanced in civilization, raised Herodotus, the father of history, the first female admiral Queen Artemisia I and Artemisia II, and kept the Hittite legacy alive in Anatolia. Like the Urartu, Phrygian, Lydian and Lycian people, they also had a very respected past and prepared leaven for the dough of later civilizations.
Maussolleion
When you come to Bodrum, it will be enough to follow the modest Mausoleum sign on Turgutreis Street to reach the Maussolleion, one of the wonders of the world you will probably want to see. Maussollos, who made Halicarnassus one of the most important cities in history, brought his capital to Mylasa (Milas) after he came to power in 377 BC.
Maussollos moved the other six settlements in the vicinity here and surrounded the city with long and high walls. The ancient theater, whose restoration continues today, is one of the projects of Maussolos. However, the dream of Maussollos, who died before he could finish the other project he started, continued his wife Artemis, who was also his sister. The project, which could not be completed during his lifetime, went down in history with the name of Maussolleion after the architects completed it with their own means. Today it is considered one of the seven wonders of the world. Maussolleion, which resisted history for 1500 years, entered the dark period of its history when it was ruined by a heavy earthquake.
Many of the remains inside the work, whose stones were used in the construction of Bodrum Castle by the Knights of St. John, were taken to England by British scientists and collectors during the Ottoman period. Today, you can see these works in the British Museum (British Muesum) in England.
It is accepted that the Maussolleion consists of four parts. There is a hall with 36 columns sitting on a solid base, longer than the width, and a platform reached by 24 steps. On this platform, there is a platform with statues of Maussollos and Artemis. In the pyramid, there was a depiction of a chariot drawn by four horses. The walls were decorated with frescoes by the best masters of the time.
Mylasa
It is one of the oldest Carian cities. The city, which was the capital of Mylassa Caria for a long time, passed under the rule of the Persians in the VI century BC. Mylassa joined the rebellion of Carians and Ionians in 500 BC, but the Persians were defeated in 414 BC. After 479 BC Mylassa joined the Greek-controlled Delas union. After 387 BC, the administration passed to the Persians again.
Mylassa was an important city in the Hellenistic period. The city, which maintained its importance in the Roman period, became the capital of the Menteşe Turkish tribe in the 14th century.
In the basement, you can see the Gümüşkesen monument, which draws attention with its magnificent and finely decorated Mauseleien-like structure, Roman tombs, and the remains of a temple thought to have been dedicated to Zeus Stratius. The Baltalı Kapı, which takes its name from the ax symbol on its side, the ruins of the Zeus Osogos temple, the acropolis and the wall ruins surrounding it, and the Hellenistic tombs are other ruins that you can see. Another relic that you will find very interesting are the rock tombs known as barber beds.
Myndos
Myndos is a city that many of the ancient writers frequently mention. The city, which was founded by King Mausolous in the place where Gumusluk town is located today, was besieged by Alexander the Great but could not be taken.
Although there is not much information about it, as there is not enough excavation work yet, it is reported by ancient writers that there is a theater and a stadium inside. Today, there is nothing but a Byzantine church, a few fortifications, a flooded breakwater and the remains of a tower, but a large part of the land is left. Columns, mosaics and ceramic pieces are seen everywhere. The city hosted the ships of Cassius, who killed Caesar (Caesar) together with Brutus in 44 BC. It is famous for printing its own money in Hellenistic and Roman times.
Gumusluk, which is a charming fishing village today, will allow you to take a trip to history and taste delicious fish in fish restaurants.
Myndos Gate
It is thought that the walls that King Maussollos built around Halicarnassus were built in 364 BC.
The Myndos Gate, which is standing today from the walls built to resist enemy attacks, consists of two towers located on both sides of a gate courtyard and two other towers connected with these towers. It was named Myndos Gate because it is the gate of the walls on the side of the ancient city of Myndos, located in the place known as Gümüşlük today.
Termera
It is reported by ancient writers that there was a city called Termera in Akyarlar. It is known to be a Lelegian city. However, there is not enough information about it since excavations have not been carried out yet.
Ören
The town, which is one of the oldest settlements of the Carians, is very close to Bodrum. Located in the Gulf of Kerme, now called Gökova, this charming town is a place where blue and green intertwine.
If you expect more than sea, sun and sand from your holiday, Ören should definitely be among the places you should visit. In addition to water sports such as rowing, surfing, sailing and diving, land sports such as Jeep Safari, motocross, mountain biking, trekking, hill climbing, mountaineering, canyoning await you here.
If you are interested in paragliding, a great airflow that will keep you in the air for 4-5 hours is at your disposal. If we say that there are people who can stay in the air for 7.5-8 hours in Ören, we will probably increase your excitement.
Pedasa
In addition to Halicarnassus, one of the 12 ancient cities on the peninsula is Pedesa.
Pedasa is on one of the forest-covered hills, 4 km north of Bodrum. Since there is no road, it can only be reached on foot. This trip will offer a pleasant walk and an extraordinary discovery opportunity for the curious. The ruins can be viewed on the hill in a circle with a diameter of 150 meters. These are usually the remains of walls and inner castles. On the slopes falling to the south and southeast of the area, mausoleum-shaped tombs peculiar to Leleges will be seen.
Museum of Underwater Archeology
People’s use of the sea begins thousands of years ago. Boats for many purposes such as fishing, transportation and transportation have traveled from port to port in the seas for thousands of years.
The fact that the Mediterranean is among the densely populated areas has made it a very dense region of sea traffic. Coastal trade, international trade, and pirates seeking prey in the derelicts swarmed.
Today, many shores of the Mediterranean are full of ruins and shipwrecks that shed light on history. Bodrum is one of the luckiest regions in this regard. The first and only Museum of Underwater Archeology established in Turkey is located in Bodrum.
George F. Bass is the pioneer of underwater research in Bodrum. He made the world’s first underwater excavation in Gelidonya in 1960. The fact that Texas A&M Nautical Archaeology department established its headquarters in Bodrum further increased the importance of Bodrum.
The most important difficulty of submarine archeology is that objects that have been under water for centuries are unstable on the water surface due to chemical changes in accordance with their environment. For this reason, these objects are covered with various chemical materials or kept in storage tanks in Bodrum Museum of Underwater Archeology. The fact that these facilities are only available in Bodrum increases the importance of the region.
When you visit Bodrum today, you can see the maritime part of human history in this museum. Amphorae and many tools, shipwrecks, boats will take you to many centuries in the past.
Bodrum Underwater History
The most important tools used in the discovery of human history are the remains of the past. Remains on land lost their properties with the effect of time or disappeared because they were used for other purposes.
Sea, on the other hand, preserved these works better. These artifacts could not be plundered or used for other purposes, especially since deep diving under the sea was not possible in ancient times.
Since Bodrum is an important natural harbor in the Mediterranean, it has always been on the routes of ships, so many ships have sunk in its vicinity for various reasons. In the submarine excavations carried out since 1960, many artifacts that will shed light on the history of humanity have been unearthed. The Museum of Underwater Archeology, located in Bodrum Castle, where these artifacts are exhibited, is always open to visitors.
Ancient Theater
The theater is leaning against the southern slope of Göktepe, in the north of present-day Bodrum. The theater, whose construction was completed during the reign of King Maussolous, consists of three parts: Skene (Stage), Orchestra (half round) and cavea (seating area). It is known to be one of the oldest theaters in Anatolia.
The sitting area of the theater was carved into the rocky slope. The stage building has two floors. The building, which has a long and rectangular structure, has a door at each end.
The stage building was changed during the Roman period. The section decorated with masks and bucrania was used as a house in the Byzantine era.
Rock Graves
Above the theater and on the slope, there are rock graves from the Hellenistic and Roman periods.
Artemis
The first tomb for the goddess Artemis was built on the marshy shore near the river in Ephesus in 800 BC. Artemis, the goddess of Ephesus, sometimes called Diana, was not the same as the Greek Artemis. The Greek Artemis was the goddess of the hunt. Artemis of Ephesus, on the other hand, was the goddess of fertility, fertility and fertility, as depicted with many breasts from her waist to her shoulders.
In this ancient temple was a sacred stone, thought to be a meteorite that probably fell from Jupiter. The temple was destroyed and rebuilt several times in the following centuries. Around 600 BC, the city of Ephesus became a major trading port, and an architect named Chersiphron built a large new temple with high stone columns.
When the temple was destroyed during the war in which the Lydian king Croesus conquered Ephesus and other Greek cities in Anatolia in 550 BC, Croesus had the architect Theodorus build a new temple that eclipsed all previous ones. The new temple was 90 meters high and 45 meters wide, four times the size of the previous one. A massive roof was supported by more than a hundred stone pillars.
In 356 BC, a new temple was built by the famous sculptor of the time, Paros from Scopas, in place of the temple, which was destroyed by fire in a fire started by a man named Herostratus. According to the Roman historian Pliny, the new temple was 130 meters long and 68 meters wide. The ceiling was supported by 127 columns, 18 meters high. Construction took 120 years. When Alexander the Great came to Ephesus in 333 BC, the construction of the temple was still going on.
In AD 57, St. When Paul came to Ephesus to spread Christianity and succeeded, Demetrius, the blacksmith of the city and one of the owners of the statues in the temple, fell into great fear. because Demetrius was the owner of some of the statues in the temple and he had a good income from those who made pilgrimages to the temple every year and converting people meant he lost his livelihood. Demetrius, who took other people with whom he had traded with him, made an exciting speech that ended with “Long live Artemis of the Ephesians” and excited the people. Immediately after St. They arrested two of Paul’s aides. As a result of the revolt that followed, St. Paul left the city with his arrested aides and returned to Macedonia.
In 262, the great temple of Artemis was burned down during an incursion of the Goths. A century later, the Roman Emperor Constantine had the city rebuilt. However, because he was a Christian, he did not have the temple restored. Despite Constantine’s efforts, Ephesus could not return to its old days. because the port where the ships moored was destroyed. The sea was moved away from the city by the silt carried by the river. Over time, the inhabitants of the city left the city. The remains of the temple were used to build other structures and statues.
John Turtle Wood of the British Museum began researching the temple in 1863. In 1869, he found the foundations of the temple in the mud at a depth of 6 meters. He took the sculptures and some relics he found to the British Museum.
In 1904, from the same museum, D.G. A team led by Hograth continued the excavations and discovered that the site had 5 temples built on top of each other. Only a single column was erected in the marshy area to indicate the location of the temple to visitors today.
Queen Ada
Queen Ada is the spiritual mother of Alexander the Great. She is a member of the Hekatomnos dynasty that ruled Caria (today’s Muğla region) 2400 years ago for 60 years. Queen Ada ruled Caria from the capital Halicarnassus as Persian Satrap in 344-341 BC.
Queen Ada is exhibited in the feast house inside the Baltalı tower with its magnificent view, at the highest point of Bodrum Castle. There is a double-edged Carian ax on the tower door. When you enter through the iron door, there is an andron and a metope displaying all the beauty of the Classical age. In this section, information boards about the period in which Queen Ada lived can be seen. The head of the skeleton in the sarcophagus, which was found during a foundation excavation in Bodrum in 1983, was taken to the University of Manchester, England. The skull, which was carved by Dr John Prag, Head of the Archeology Museum of the University, together with Dr Neave and his team, was found to belong to Queen Ada. The videotape shows Queen Ada’s tomb and excavation, as well as the fleshing of her skull.
The feast house is entered through the crown door decorated with ochre-painted iron belts and Carian axes. There are lightning bolts of the sky god Zeus, god depictions and Medusa heads on the wood. The hall is decorated with half-Ionic columns. On the lintel carried by the columns, the life of Queen Ada is depicted with the comic book technique.
The Queen Ada dummy is seen in all its glory in the narrow side niche. There are gold ornaments on the peplo (one-piece dress), sewn from raw silk, and blue beads on the belt. On the bones of Queen Ada, Prof. Berna Alpagut made a study. Accordingly, the woman died at the age of 40. It is understood that she gave birth to more than one. 32 females were found present. According to Prof Whittaken, who examined the tooth section, it was determined that the tooth age was 44 (+-6). Ada, the daughter of Hekatomnus, must have been born before 379 BC and died around 330 according to historical data.
Cevat Şakir Kabaağaçlı
The Fisherman of Halicarnassus
Saying “If the voice had a color, the Fisherman’s would be blue”, Sabahattin Eyüpoğlu says the following about him: “The Archipelago Blue was his greatest passion. He never liked Bodrum Castle because it stole the stones of the Maussolleion.”
A nature and history buff, the Fisherman of Halicarnassus was also a freedom fighter. He never wrote on lined paper in his life, as a justification he would say:
“Following the line drawn by others restricts my freedom.”
Cevat Şakir Kabaağaçlı, who is known as the fisherman of Halicarnassus and uses this name as a pseudonym in his works, never left Bodrum, where he came as Exile, wrote his works here, and is one of the important figures of Turkish literature. He is one of the artists who played an important role in making Bodrum what it is today.
Neyzen Tevfik
“A magician who filled the universe with a piece of reed”
These words belong to Hakkı Süha Gezgin. A vagrant of the time, a neglected and disheveled man, a ney player, a satirical poet.
Neyzen Tevfik Kolaylı, born on March 24, 1879, is an interesting personality who gave concerts in the Sultan’s palace, played the ney, played in taverns, and fell into an alcohol coma in the streets during his life spent in the dungeons, prisons and asylums of the period.
Today, this person is considered the greatest ney master in Turkey and of course one of the most sharp-tongued poets.
Neyzen Tevfik played the ney in the presence of Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, and when his request was asked, he only asked for an identity card.
Here is just one of Neyzen Tevfik’s lines that got him in trouble many times.
“Whoever I asked, they didn’t give you the right answer.
Some said a thief, some a scoundrel, some a pander,
I phoned to the party to get your tag
According to the record we have, they said that he is the deputy now.”
Neyzen Tevfik, who left many works behind when his turbulent life ended on January 28, 1953, is a legendary personality in Turkey.
Zeki Müren
Zeki Müren, born on December 6, 1933, is regarded as the art sun of Turkey. Zeki Müren, who speaks Turkish perfectly, is the greatest artist of Turkish Classical Music ever. After getting to know Bodrum, Zeki Müren settled in a house he found with a summer rental advertisement in a newspaper, and he went into seclusion and never left Bodrum. Zeki Müren, who loves Bodrum, was loved by Bodrum and Bodrum residents. After this date, Bodrum has become a town whose name is frequently mentioned in the print media, televisions and radios. Many artists who love this town, introduced by Zeki Müren, either bought or rented a house in Bodrum or started to spend their holidays in Bodrum. Zeki Müren’s name had an impact that huge advertising campaigns could not achieve. Bodrum also benefited from this effect in the following years. Because many artists are now associated with Bodrum and Bodrum was gaining fame day by day.
September 24, 1996 was the last concert day Zeki Müren met with his fans on television. He got worse on the stage when he appeared with the friends he could not break for many years and the offers of the TRT institution, which he filled their screens for years, and the later interventions could not save him.
Today, the house that Zeki Müren used during his health in Bodrum is open to visitors as a museum. A memorial day is held every year. Thus, in a sense, Bodrum pays its debt of loyalty to Zeki Müren.
Intellectuals and artists who have chosen the quietest corners of the peninsula to settle in in recent years have added a lot to Bodrum’s culture.
