From Halicarnassus to Bodrum: A Short History of the Peninsula

In antiquity, Bodrum was Halicarnassus, an important city of the Caria region. Under King Mausolus it became the capital, and the monumental tomb built for him, the Mausoleum, was counted among the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World. In the Middle Ages the Knights of Rhodes built today's castle at the harbour; in the Ottoman period the town lived on as a small seafaring settlement, and in the 20th century it gained its present identity through the pen of the Fisherman of Halicarnassus.

Caria and Halicarnassus

In antiquity, the Bodrum peninsula lay at the western tip of the region known as Caria. The Carians were a people of south-western Anatolia with their own distinctive language. Halicarnassus, founded on the coast, gradually became a port city where Greek colonists and Carians lived side by side.

The city's best-known son is Herodotus, remembered as 'the father of history'. Herodotus was born in Halicarnassus, and in his work he described the wars between the Eastern and Western worlds and the customs of their peoples. That is why you will come across streets and statues bearing his name in Bodrum.

Mausolus and the Mausoleum

Mausolus, the Carian satrap under the Persian Empire, moved the capital from Milas (Mylasa) to Halicarnassus and launched a major building programme in the city. The walls, the palace and the harbour were developed in this period.

After Mausolus died, his wife Artemisia brought together the most famous sculptors and architects of the age to build a magnificent tomb in his name. Called the Mausoleum, the structure consisted of a high podium, a colonnaded middle storey and a stepped pyramid roof; it is said to have been crowned by a statue of a chariot. The building was so impressive that its name became the word 'mausoleum', which today means a monumental tomb in many languages.

The Mausoleum stood for centuries but was damaged by earthquakes. When the Knights of Rhodes built the castle, they used its stones and fragments of its sculpture. Some reliefs and statues were later taken abroad. Today, at the site in Bodrum, you can see the foundations, column fragments and display areas showing what the building looked like.

Alexander the Great and the siege

Halicarnassus was one of the cities besieged during Alexander the Great's campaign in Anatolia. The Myndos Gate to the west is the surviving section of the city walls associated with this siege. Traces of the moat around the gate show how strong the ancient city's defences were.

The Roman and Byzantine periods

In the Roman period the city kept its importance but was overshadowed by other major centres in the region. The ancient theatre on the slope of Göktepe was built in the Hellenistic period and enlarged under the Romans; today it still occasionally hosts events in summer. In the Byzantine period the settlement shrank.

The Knights of Rhodes and Bodrum Castle

At the beginning of the 15th century, the Knights of St John on Rhodes built a castle at the harbour to establish a base on the Anatolian coast and dedicated it to St Peter. A widely held view is that the name 'Bodrum' derives from 'Petronium', a name from this period. The castle's towers bear the names of the knights' different nations: the English Tower, the French Tower, the Italian Tower and so on. The castle passed to Ottoman rule in the 16th century, after Suleiman the Magnificent captured Rhodes.

Today the Museum of Underwater Archaeology in the castle displays finds recovered from shipwrecks off the Aegean and Mediterranean coasts. The section on the Uluburun shipwreck, dated to the Bronze Age, tells the story of one of the oldest known shipwrecks in the world.

Bodrum in the Ottoman period

In the Ottoman period, Bodrum was a small coastal town living from sponge diving and fishing. Greek and Turkish communities lived side by side in the peninsula's villages. Like many Aegean coastal towns, Bodrum was affected by the population exchange of the early 20th century; stone houses and chapels in some villages bear traces of this period.

The Fisherman of Halicarnassus and modern Bodrum

The writer Cevat Şakir Kabaağaçlı, sent to Bodrum in exile in 1925, wrote about Bodrum, its sailors and its sponge divers in short stories and novels under the pen name 'Halikarnas Balıkçısı' (the Fisherman of Halicarnassus). He went on living in Bodrum for many years after his sentence ended. The trips he and his friends made around the bays in gulets are regarded as the start of the tradition known today as the 'Blue Voyage'. This circle played a large part in Bodrum becoming known as a town of artists and writers.

Seeing history on site

A history-focused route could follow this order: the castle and the Museum of Underwater Archaeology in the morning, the Mausoleum at midday, the ancient theatre and the Myndos Gate in the afternoon, and Gümüşlük, on top of ancient Myndos, in the evening. For practical information on the stops, see our guide places to visit in Bodrum. If you want to see the other great cities of the ancient world in the Aegean, take a look at our Aegean tour covering Ephesus and Hierapolis.

Reading before your museum visit

To understand Bodrum's history better on the spot, a little reading before you go helps. Selected passages from Herodotus' Histories show how the ancient world looked from Halicarnassus. The Fisherman of Halicarnassus' stories about Bodrum and Aegean sailors open a literary window onto the town's recent past. If you are going with children, an illustrated book on the Seven Wonders helps them imagine the Mausoleum. This preparation makes it easier to see the story behind the stones when you stand in front of the ruins.

Frequently asked questions

What is Bodrum's ancient name?

Bodrum's ancient name is Halicarnassus. It was one of the important port cities of the Caria region and became the capital under King Mausolus.

Can the Mausoleum be seen today?

The building itself has not survived, but at the site in Bodrum you can see the remains of its foundations, column fragments and display areas describing the monument.

Who built Bodrum Castle?

The castle was built in the 15th century by the Knights of St John on Rhodes. Stones from the Mausoleum were also used in its construction.

Do you organise history-focused group trips to Bodrum?

We do not have a ready-made catalogue programme for this route; if you would like us to plan one for your group, you can write to us via our contact page.