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The history
of Bodrum, known as Halicarnassus or Halicarnassos goes back to the 13th
century BC. Excavates reveal the 5000-year-old history of this town. Many
civilisations found their home here. Carians for example, Homer tells in
his Ilia, that the Carians helped to defend Troya.
Heredotus, known as the father of history, was born in Bodrum in 484 BC. -
and he said that Bodrum had been founded by the Dorians. The next settlers
were Carians and Lelegians. In the 6’Th. Century BC. the region came
under Persian rule. Its most brilliant period was around 353. BC. when it
was the capital of the Satrap of Caria (In this century it was famous for
its trade, sailing and boatbuilding.) Artemisia who was a warrior-woman
played a significant role in the protection of the Asian Union and she
achieved fame by adopting a stance against Rhodes as the Admiral of the
Carian fleet in 480 BC.
We
know that the native people, namely the Lelegs and the Carians had lived
on the hills in the Peninsula of Bodrum. In the year 1000 B.C., those who
came here along with the Doric migrations settled in the locality where
the fortress stands today and mixed with the native people here. So, the
city of Halicarnassos was founded.
The city, which was captured by the Lydians in the first half of the 6th
century B.C., and by the Persians in the year 546 B.C., was joined with
the Satrapy of Saird and later.
In the year 377 B.C. Maussollos got hold of the Western Anatolia, had many
cities constructed in the region of Caria, and had the capital of Caria
removed from Milas to Halicarnassos. With the aim of enlarging the city,
he had 6 of the 9 Leleg cities removed to this region, and he had the city
surrounded with walls and had many palaces, theatres and temples built in
the city. The most important one of these is the monumental tomb
constructed for Maussollos and his wife Artemisia II. The construction had
started in the year 355 B.C. and at the time of its completion in 340
B.C., it was one of the 7 wonders of the world. According to the
information supplied by the historian Pilinius, the tomb consisted of 4
parts; there was a high base at the lowest level, a gallery of 36 columns
upon it, and a roof of 24 steps upon which the statues of Maussollos and
his wife were placed. The architect of the monumental tomb was Pytheos,
and sculptors such as Skopas, Leochares, Bryaxis and Timothes made the
relief engravings. The Knights of Rhodes in the construction of the
fortress that exists today used the stones of the monumental tomb, which
was ruined by an earthquake in the 14th century. The tendrils found in the
tomb and the statues at the top, are kept at the British Museum today.
 The
Mausoleum is Bodrums oldest antiquity and
was built by Artemisia II in honour of her husband King Mausolos. It
became one of the wonders of the ancient world; Mausoleum still is the
general term for a large tomb. The entire structure stood at over 50
meters in height. The first relief’s from the Mausoleum reached the
British Museum in London in 1846, these included frescos and other
objects.
When
Artemisia II died in the year 351 B.C., Idrius who was in turn succeeded
by Ada, who was dethroned by her brother Pixodaros, succeeded her.
Meanwhile Alexander the Great entered Anatolia and made Ada ascend the
throne. The Queen’s tomb, discovered in recent years, is displayed at
the museum today. The city, which was captured by Lysimachos following the
death of Alexander the Great, was later subjected to Rhodes and Pergamum,
and still later Rome got hold of Anatolia totally. Owing to the fact that
Bodrum was founded upon the ancient city of Halicarnassos, not much is
left to our day from the ancient city. The theatre, the stoa of Mars and
Apollon situated within the gardens in the city, the theatre on the hill
belonging to the Hellenistic period have been restored today. Former
sources of information state that, the temple of Mars and the stoa of
Apollon were under the road in front of the theatre, and the temples of
Hermes and Afrodities were on the public square of today.
Bodrums first remembered literary character was Cevat Sakir, known as the
'Halicarnassus Fisherman' asked for the return of the Mausoleum parts to
Bodrum in a letter addressed to the Queen of England, saying that such
exquisite works of art were not finding their true place under the foggy
and grey sky of London. The letter he received in response stated as
following:
"Thank you for reminding us of the matter, we have painted the
ceiling where the Mausoleum is located in blue."
The most prominent feature of Bodrum is the castle of
St. Peter. The castle's origins date back to the knights of St. John
This group of expatriates began in the 11th century with a church and
hospital in Jerusalem. Although belonging to he Catholic religion care was
denied to no one. When the knights arrived they instructed their builders
to remove all usable materials from the tomb of King Mausolos as the
castle construction began in the 1400's.
The knights referred to the town as Mesy not knowing that they where in
the ancient Halicarnassus The fortress became known as
the Castle of St. Peter, the Liberator, it served as the sole place of
refugee for all Christians on the West Coast of Asia during the time of
the crusades. For over a century the castle served as a stronghold in the
knight’s community. Under Turkish care the castle has undergone several
uses including being a military base, a prison and a public bath. But now
it is one of the finest museums in this region. The
fortress is the city symbol. The Knights of Rhodes had it constructed in
the year 1402, and it was reinforced with the Italian, English, German and
French towers. The Turks took it in 1523, and it is used as an underwater
museum today. The underwater section and the section of Princess Ada, are
the sections which attract the greatest attention here.
The
Amphi-theatre
The theatre is another witness to the great past of Bodrum. Situated in
the hillside over looking Bodrum this theatre whose capacity is around
13.000 was built during te Carian reign in the Hellenistic age (330 - 30
BC.). The theatre consists of three different sections: a place for the
audience, a place for an orchestra and the stage. It became an open-air
museum after the excavations in 1973.
The
Myndos gate
Located on the west side of Bodrum, this is one of the two entrances of
ancient Halicarnassus. It was part of the town’s wall. The gate is named
after the place Myndos because it faces the ancient Myndos place (now
Gümüslük).
Only some parts of the city walls remained until today. An important part
of the town wall was the Myndos Gate where the soldiers of Alexander (*the
great*) had a hard time to come into the town of Halicarnassus in 333 BC.
After they captured the city they destroyed all buildings except the
Mausoleum, which was one of the seven wonders of the ancient world.
The archaeologists to bring this spot from ancient times to be better
realized now have done extensive excavation and restoration. It is
expected that the whole restoration of the town wall of nearly 4,5
kilometres will take four to five years to complete.
According to Arrianus, who describes this gate and the siege of Alexander
the Great in 334, this gate had originally three towers (that's why it was
described as 'Tripollion'). It was also mentioned that in front of the
gate was a ditch of 8 meters depth and 15 meters long. The middle part of
the gate is totally destroyed now but ruins from the two other parts still
exist and consist of huge and heavy square stones.
Tombs were found here and opened by Newton in the last century. They dated
back to Hellenistic and Roman times and were made from burned clay.
 When
Alexander the Great in the autumn of 334 BC came to Halicarnassus, he had
his headquarters somewhere near here. His first attack was towards the
Milas gate, which does not exist anymore, but he couldn't succeed. On the
Halicarnassus side were fighting the Persian generals Oronbates and Memnon
from Rhodos. After a couple of days he tried with the Myndos gate. But
again there was much resistance. Then he built a wooden bridge over the 8
m. ditch, packed some of his Macedonian soldiers into wooden towers and
carried them close to the gate, but the people of Halicarnassus came out
and tried to burn those towers and started fighting, the bridge collapsed
after a while and there was a big panic on both sides. Despite the fact
that many of their own warriors outside were killed, the Halicarnassus
allies Memnon and Oronbates closed the gate, went to the castle and from
the harbour they sailed to Kos.
Alexander the Great conquered the town then and destroyed the whole place,
only the mausoleum he didn't touch, and then he proceeded southwards to
Phrygia.
There
are not many Turkish works in Bodrum. The famous crafts called The Crafts
of Bodrum today were constructed here during the Ottoman period too.
Here - as nearly everywhere in Turkey Archaeologists expect to find more
remains underneath the rubble of 17 centuries.
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