St. Peter’s Castle & Museum of Underwater Archeology

Bodrum Museum of Underwater Archeology: All museums in Turkey are closed on Mondays.Tel: 316 25 16 website: www.bodrum-museum.com
Opening hours: Summer 08.30-12.00 - 13.30-17.30

Fifty-two museums from all over Europe were entered in the "European Museum of the Year Award '95" (EMYA'95) competition; forty-five were declared eligible to compete and twelve went into the final round. The Bodrum Museum of Underwater Archaeology, representing Turkey, survived the initial selection process, .became one of twelve finalists and was awarded a "Certificate of Special Commendation 1995" at the competition finals held on June 10 in Sweden"

St Peter Castle is a good example of Frankish architecture in Orient. Building material partly comes from the ruins of the Mausoleum (large slabs of greenish granite). On the ramparts and above the gates the coats-of arms of the Order of the Hospitaliers, Grand Masters (like Pierre d’ Aubusson, Emery d’ Amboise) and commandants of the place can be seen. The castle has five turrets each called by the nationality of the knights: the English, French, German, Italian and Spanish Towers. In the inner moat are the Caretto and Gatineau Towers. Between 1513 and 1522 the Gatineau tower was used as a dungeon and torture chamber. Important persons were imprisoned here. One of them was Oruç Reis, the elder brother of the famous Great Admiral Barbaros Hayrettin Pasha. On his return voyage from the Trablussam victory, he was attacked by the Knights. His brother Ilyas was killed in the battle and Oruç Reis was wounded and taken prisoner. He remained in captivity from 1503 to 1506, spending the first year of his imprisonment in the castle dungeon where he was tortured. The Knights later transferred him to the island of Rhodes. When the Knights finally surrendered on the 20th of December 1522 and the castle was handed over on the 5th of January 1523, the Turks proceeded to bury the shameful room beneath a 3 meter thick stone wall in order to erase it from history. The Turkish bath, which is the only building constructed by the Turks within the castle, stands at the south of the Gothic chapel.

Bodrum Underwater Museum of Archeology
The castle houses a Museum with a section displaying very interesting Underwater Archeology findings comprising treasures from a series of historic shipwrecks (wrecks, glass artifacts and a large number of amphoras of various origins).The oldest shipwreck is the Uluburun Shipwreck dating from the 14th century BC (left photo). When the ship sank, it carried 20 tons of raw material such as copper ingots, tin and glass, ebony logs, amphoras of resin, ivory, ostrich eggshells, foodstuffs, spices and valuables fit for a king...
The Carian Princess Hall : in 1989 a burial chamber was accidentally discovered near the ancient necropolis. The excavations revealed an intact sarcophagus containing the well-preserved skeleton of a woman surrounded by gold jewellery and ornaments (and the bones of a mouse trapped in the tomb). A painstaking reconstruction of the head of the deceased was carried out by the Department of Forensic Science of the University of Manchester Medical School in collaboration with the Museum of Manchester University. The age at death has been estimated approximately at 44 years. The bones were dated to 360-325 B.C.. This woman is thought to be Ada, the last Hecatomnid ruler of Caria, sister of Mausolus. The Carian Princess is exhibited in a banqueting hall, similar to the Andron of Mausolus in Labranda, greeting the guests dressed in a floating garb with the gold ornaments. Wine is served in a trefoil-mouthed jar (oinochoe). On the right of the hall, stands the tomb with the skeleton of Ada (and the bones of the mouse). The inscription over the tomb says "Rest in Peace". Incense is burned at the head of the tomb kept by sacred eels with golden earrings.

Amphitheatre

Open 24 hours and everyday.
The Theatre is located on the hillside overlooking Bodrum. Built in the time of Mausolus, it is one of the very few surviving pre-Hellenistic theaters in Asia Minor and thus one of the oldest. It had a seating capacity of about 13.000 spectators.

 

 

Mosaleum
Opening hours: 08:30-12:00 and 13:30-17:30, closed on Sundays.
The Mausoleum, King Mausolus’ tomb, is at the origin of the funerary monuments of great dimensions and somptuous architecture. The Mausoleum had a length of about 40 m/131 ft, a width of 30 m / 99 ft, and a height of 45 m /148 ft. It consisted of a stepped base and a burial chamber topped by 36 Ionic columns. These were surmounted by a pyramid roof crowned with a marble quadriga (four forsed chariot) with the figures of Mausolos and Artemisia, work of the sculptor Phytheus who, with the architect Satyrus drew up the plans of the monument. The base was adorned with a frieze executed by four famous sculptors, one per side: Scopas, Bryaxis, Timotheus and Leochares. Classical writers were most impressed by these sculptures. The Mausoleum dominated the city at least until the 12th century. By the early 15th century it lay in ruins due to earthquakes, and the Knights of Rhodes reused the stones in the construction of the castle. In the 1850s Charles Newton discovered the site of the Mausoleum with the remains of the flight of steps and tomb chamber. The fragments of the frieze and the statues of Mausolus and Artemis he excavated, were sent to the British Museum in London. In 1966 a Danish Team started Modern studies and excavations of the site. Today a great depression marks the position of the Mausoleum. Main steps on the west side of the depression lead to the tomb of Mausolus. The huge block of grey stone which blocked the entry to the tomb can still be seen on the site.

Myndos Gate
Open 24 hours and everyday.
Myndos gate is located on the west side of Bodrum. It is the only surviving monumental gate of ancient Halicarnassus and was part of the 7 km / 4,35 miles long town walls built by King mausolus in the 4th century BC. The gate, made of andesite stone blocks, is named Myndos because it faces the ancient port of Myndos (today Gümüslük).