BODRUM
Bodrum, and hinterland, has become
Turkey’s tourism capital. The town, with its picturesque
shop-lined streets, restaurants, discotheques, sophisticated
bars and cafes for all ages and tastes, is always lively
whatever the season.
Built in the 15th century
by the Knights of St John from Rhodes, the Bodrum Castle
still sits proudly, watching over the Bodrum Peninsula.
This is ancient Halicarnassus, birthplace
of the famous historian Herodotus, a place known in
antiquity for being the site of one of the seven wonders
of the world, the Mausoleum, a gigantic tomb erected
for King Mausolus in the 4th century BC.
 Destroyed
by successive earthquakes, the stones of the Mausoleum
were used by the Knights of St. john to build their
Castle nearby. This castle, open to the public, houses
a fascinating museum of underwater archaeology. After
King Mausolus’ death, the chambers of the Mausoleum
were discovered and looted. In the 19th century,
two Englishmen looted what was left, and the treasures
are now on show at the British Museum.
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