Sights in Bodrum
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Castle of St Peter
When Tamerlane invaded Anatolia in 1402, throwing the nascent Ottoman Empire temporarily off balance, the Knights Hospitaller based on Rhodes took the opportunity to capture Bodrum, building the Castle of St Peter to defend the town until the end of WWI. It was later used as an informal storage space for the booty collected during underwater archaelogy missions. It now houses Bodrum's Museum of Underwater Archaeology.
As you head up the stone ramp into the castle past Crusader coats of arms carved in marble and mounted on the stone walls, keep an eye out for bits of marble filched from the ancient Mausoleum.
The Castle of St Peter's main court is centred on an ancient mulb…
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Mausoleum
Though most of the Mausoleum is long gone, the site is still worth visiting. It has pleasant gardens, excavations and a covered arcade. The arcade contains a copy of the famous frieze partly recovered from the castle walls; the original is now in the British Museum in London. The four original fragments on display were discovered more recently. Models, drawings and documents give an idea of why this tomb made Pliny's list of Wonders.
Other exhibits include a model of Halicarnassus at the time of King Mausolus, and a model of the Mausoleum and its precincts.
A description written in 1581, supposedly taken from an eyewitness account of 1522, describes how the Knights Hospita…
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Museum of Underwater Archaeology
The space in the Castle of St Peter that was once used to store booty collected during underwater archaeology missions, now houses Bodrum's Museum of Underwater Archaeology. It is arguably the most important museum of its type in the world, a veritable lesson in how to bring ancient exhibits to life. Items are creatively displayed and well lit, and information panels, maps, models, drawings, murals, dioramas and videos all help to animate them.
It's undoubtedly one of the best museums in Turkey, not to mention the Mediterranean (and could teach some of the cupboard-like Victorian museums in the West a thing or two!).
The views from the battalions are spectacular and worth …
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French Tower
Inside the Castle of St Peter is the French Tower where lie the remains of a great and powerful woman. Though popularly said to belong to Queen Ada (a Carian princess who died sometime between 360 BC and 325 BC aged 29, and whose tomb was discovered by Turkish archaeologists in 1989), there is no concrete evidence for this. Buried with a gold crown, necklace, bracelets, rings and an exquisite wreath of gold myrtle leaves, her identity doesn't lessen the incredible value of the find.
Using modern reconstruction techniques, experts at Manchester University have modelled what she might have looked like; a video in Turkish explains their work.
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D
Shipyard
Just beyond the marina are the recently restored remains of the Shipyard. In 1770 the entire Ottoman fleet was destroyed by the Russians at Çeşme and had to be rebuilt from scratch in boatyards like this. The shipyard was fortified as a defence against pirates, and the restored tower was finished in 1829. The site is mainly used as a children's playground and is memorable for the views from the top, where several old tombstones date from the period when the Latin alphabet was replacing Arabic.
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Myndos Gate
The remains of the Myndos Gate (Myndos Kapısı) are newly restored. This is the only surviving gate in what were originally 7km-long walls probably built by King Mausolus in the 4th century BC. In front of the twin-towered gate are the remains of a moat in which many of Alexander the Great's soldiers drowned in 334 BC.
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Glass-Shipwreck Exhibit
Inside the Castle of St Peter is the Glass-Shipwreck exhibit. Discovered by a sponge diver in 1973 and excavated by Professor George Bass and a team of marine archaeologists, the 16m-long, 5m-wide ship sank in AD 1025 while carrying three tonnes of mainly broken glass between Fatimid Syria and the Black Sea.
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G
Ancient Theatre
A restored ancient theatre, which could originally seat 13,000 people, is cut into the rock of the hillside behind town on the busy main road to Gümbet. Recently, tombs dating to before the theatre were discovered here.
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Bardakçı Hamam
Though the exterior looks unpromising, the Bardakçı Hamam, founded in 1749, has a lovely marble-clad interior and great atmosphere. Bathing is mixed.
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Bardakçı
Bardakçı has a pleasant beach, which is generally uncrowded and a good place to relax.
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