Bodrum () is a port city in

Muğla Province Muğla Province ( tr, , ) is a province of Turkey, at the country's south-western corner, on the Aegean Sea. Its seat is Muğla, about inland, while some of Turkey's largest holiday resorts, such as Bodrum, Ölüdeniz, Marmaris and Fethiye, ...

, southwestern

Turkey Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, links=no ), is a transcontinental country located mainly on the Anatolian Peninsula in Western Asia, with a small portion on the Balkan Peninsula in ...

, at the entrance to the

Gulf of Gökova Gulf of Gökova ( tr, Gökova Körfezi) or Gulf of Kerme ( Turkish: Kerme Körfezi, Greek: Κεραμεικός κόλπος, Latin: Ceramicus Sinus, English: Ceramic Gulf or Gulf of Cos), is a long (100 km), narrow gulf of the Aegean Sea b ...

. Its population was 35,795 at the 2012 census, with a total of 136,317 inhabitants residing within the district's borders. Known in ancient times as

Halicarnassus Halicarnassus (; grc, Ἁλικαρνᾱσσός ''Halikarnāssós'' or ''Alikarnāssós''; tr, Halikarnas; Carian: 𐊠𐊣𐊫𐊰 𐊴𐊠𐊥𐊵𐊫𐊰 ''alos k̂arnos'') was an ancient Greek city in Caria, in Anatolia. It was located i ...

, the city was once home to the

Mausoleum at Halicarnassus The Mausoleum at Halicarnassus or Tomb of Mausolus ( grc, Μαυσωλεῖον τῆς Ἁλικαρνασσοῦ; tr, Halikarnas Mozolesi) was a tomb built between 353 and 350 BC in Halicarnassus (present Bodrum, Turkey) for Mausolus, an ...

, also known as the tomb of Mausolus, one of the

Seven Wonders of the Ancient World The Seven Wonders of the Ancient World, also known as the Seven Wonders of the World or simply the Seven Wonders, is a list of seven notable structures present during classical antiquity. The first known list of seven wonders dates back to the 2 ...

. The city was founded by

Dorian Greeks The Dorians (; el, Δωριεῖς, ''Dōrieîs'', singular , ''Dōrieús'') were one of the four major ethnic groups into which the Hellenes (or Greeks) of Classical Greece divided themselves (along with the Aeolians, Achaeans, and Ionians ...

. It later fell under

Persian Persian may refer to: * People and things from Iran, historically called ''Persia'' in the English language ** Persians, the majority ethnic group in Iran, not to be conflated with the Iranic peoples ** Persian language, an Iranian language of the ...

rule and became the capital city of the

satrapy A satrap () was a governor of the provinces of the ancient Median and Achaemenid Empires and in several of their successors, such as in the Sasanian Empire and the Hellenistic empires. The satrap served as viceroy to the king, though with consid ...

Caria Caria (; from Greek: Καρία, ''Karia''; tr, Karya) was a region of western Anatolia extending along the coast from mid- Ionia (Mycale) south to Lycia and east to Phrygia. The Ionian and Dorian Greeks colonized the west of it and joined ...

Mausolus Mausolus ( grc, Μαύσωλος or , xcr, ��𐊠��𐊸𐊫𐊦 ''Mauśoλ'') was a ruler of Caria (377–353 BCE) and a satrap of the Achaemenid Empire. He enjoyed the status of king or dynast by virtue of the powerful position created by ...

ruled Caria from here, and after his death in 353 BC, his wife

Artemisia Artemisia may refer to: People * Artemisia I of Caria (fl. 480 BC), queen of Halicarnassus under the First Persian Empire, naval commander during the second Persian invasion of Greece * Artemisia II of Caria (died 350 BC), queen of Caria under th ...

built a tomb, called the Mausoleum, for him. Macedonian forces laid siege to the city and captured it in 334 BCE. After

Alexander Alexander is a male given name. The most prominent bearer of the name is Alexander the Great, the king of the Ancient Greek kingdom of Macedonia who created one of the largest empires in ancient history. Variants listed here are Aleksandar, Al ...

's death, the city passed to successive

Hellenistic In Classical antiquity, the Hellenistic period covers the time in Mediterranean history after Classical Greece, between the death of Alexander the Great in 323 BC and the emergence of the Roman Empire, as signified by the Battle of Actium in ...

rulers and was briefly an independent kingdom until 129 BCE, when it came under Roman rule. A series of natural disasters and repeated pirate attacks wreaked havoc on the area, and the city lost its importance by the time of the

Byzantine era The Byzantine calendar, also called the Roman calendar, the Creation Era of Constantinople or the Era of the World ( grc, Ἔτη Γενέσεως Κόσμου κατὰ Ῥωμαίους, also or , abbreviated as ε.Κ.; literal translation of ...

. The

Knights Hospitaller The Order of Knights of the Hospital of Saint John of Jerusalem ( la, Ordo Fratrum Hospitalis Sancti Ioannis Hierosolymitani), commonly known as the Knights Hospitaller (), was a medieval and early modern Catholic military order. It was headq ...

arrived in 1402 and used the remains of the Mausoleum as a quarry to build

Bodrum Castle Bodrum Castle ( tr, Bodrum Kalesi) is a historical fortification located in southwest Turkey in the port city of Bodrum, built from 1402 onwards, by the Knights of St John (Knights Hospitaller) as the ''Castle of St. Peter'' or ''Petronium''. A t ...

. The castle and its town became known as Petronium, whence the modern name Bodrum. After the conquest of Rhodes by

Suleiman the Magnificent Suleiman I ( ota, سليمان اول, Süleyman-ı Evvel; tr, I. Süleyman; 6 November 14946 September 1566), commonly known as Suleiman the Magnificent in the West and Suleiman the Lawgiver ( ota, قانونى سلطان سليمان, Ḳ ...

in 1522, the town fell under Ottoman control as the Knights Hospitaller relocated to Europe. By the 20th century, the city's economy was mainly based on fishing and

sponge diving Sponge diving is underwater diving to collect soft natural sponges for human use. Background Most sponges are too rough for general use due to their structural spicules composed of calcium carbonate or silica. But two genera, ''Hippospongia'' ...

, but tourism has become the main industry in Bodrum since the late 20th century. The abundance of visitors has also contributed to Bodrum's retail and service industry.

Milas–Bodrum Airport Milas–Bodrum Airport is an international airport that serves the Turkish towns of Bodrum and Milas. The airport is situated 36 km northeast of the town of Bodrum, and 16 km south of Milas. Terminals A spacious new international te ...

and

Kos International Airport Kos International Airport ( el, Διεθνής Αερολιμένας Κω; also known as Hippocrates) is an international airport on the island of Kos in Greece. It is located near Andimachia Village, and is operated by Fraport AG, all operat ...

are the main airports that serve the city. The port has ferries to other nearby Turkish and Greek ports and islands,

Kos Kos or Cos (; el, Κως ) is a Greek island, part of the Dodecanese island chain in the southeastern Aegean Sea. Kos is the third largest island of the Dodecanese by area, after Rhodes and Karpathos; it has a population of 36,986 (2021 census), ...

being the most important. Most of the public transportation in the city is based on local

share taxis Share may refer to: * Share, to make joint use of a resource (such as food, money, or space); see Sharing * Share (finance), a stock or other financial security (such as a mutual fund) * Share, Kwara, a town and LGA in Kwara State, Nigeria Share ...

and buses.

Etymology

The modern name ''Bodrum'' derives from the town's

medieval In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire ...

name ''Petronium'', which has its roots in the

Hospitaller The Order of Knights of the Hospital of Saint John of Jerusalem ( la, Ordo Fratrum Hospitalis Sancti Ioannis Hierosolymitani), commonly known as the Knights Hospitaller (), was a medieval and early modern Catholic military order. It was headq ...

Castle of St. Peter (see

history History (derived ) is the systematic study and the documentation of the human activity. The time period of event before the invention of writing systems is considered prehistory. "History" is an umbrella term comprising past events as well ...

). In

classical antiquity Classical antiquity (also the classical era, classical period or classical age) is the period of cultural history between the 8th century BC and the 5th century AD centred on the Mediterranean Sea, comprising the interlocking civilizations of ...

, Bodrum was known as

(

Ancient Greek Ancient Greek includes the forms of the Greek language used in ancient Greece and the ancient world from around 1500 BC to 300 BC. It is often roughly divided into the following periods: Mycenaean Greek (), Dark Ages (), the Archaic p ...

: Ἁλικαρνασσός, tr, Halikarnas), a major city in ancient

. The suffix -ᾱσσός (-assos) of Greek Ἁλικαρνᾱσσός is indicative of a substrate toponym, meaning that an original non-Greek name influenced or established the place's name. It has been proposed that the -καρνᾱσσός (-carnassos) part is cognate with

Luwian The Luwians were a group of Anatolian peoples who lived in central, western, and southern Anatolia, in present-day Turkey, during the Bronze Age and the Iron Age. They spoke the Luwian language, an Indo-European language of the Anatolian sub-fam ...

word "ha+ra/i-na-sà", which means fortress. If so, the city's ancient name was probably borrowed from

Carian The Carian language is an extinct language of the Luwic subgroup of the Anatolian branch of the Indo-European language family. The Carian language was spoken in Caria, a region of western Anatolia between the ancient regions of Lycia and Lydia, ...

, a Luwic language native to pre-Greek Western

Anatolia Anatolia, tr, Anadolu Yarımadası), and the Anatolian plateau, also known as Asia Minor, is a large peninsula in Western Asia and the westernmost protrusion of the Asian continent. It constitutes the major part of modern-day Turkey. The ...

. The Carian name for Halicarnassus has been tentatively identified with 𐊠𐊣𐊫𐊰 𐊴𐊠𐊥𐊵𐊫𐊰 (''alos k̂arnos)'' in inscriptions.

History

Ancient era

Halicarnassus ( grc, Ἁλικαρνᾱσσός, Halikarnassós, or ''Alikarnassós''; tr, Halikarnas), was an

ancient Greek Ancient Greek includes the forms of the Greek language used in ancient Greece and the ancient world from around 1500 BC to 300 BC. It is often roughly divided into the following periods: Mycenaean Greek (), Dark Ages (), the Archaic p ...

city at the site of modern Bodrum in

. Halicarnassus was founded by Dorian Greeks, and the figures on its coins, such as the head of

Medusa In Greek mythology, Medusa (; Ancient Greek: Μέδουσα "guardian, protectress"), also called Gorgo, was one of the three monstrous Gorgons, generally described as winged human females with living venomous snakes in place of hair. Those ...

Athena Athena or Athene, often given the epithet Pallas, is an ancient Greek religion, ancient Greek goddess associated with wisdom, warfare, and handicraft who was later syncretism, syncretized with the Roman goddess Minerva. Athena was regarded ...

Poseidon Poseidon (; grc-gre, Ποσειδῶν) was one of the Twelve Olympians in ancient Greek religion and myth, god of the sea, storms, earthquakes and horses.Burkert 1985pp. 136–139 In pre-Olympian Bronze Age Greece, he was venerated as a ...

, and the

trident A trident is a three- pronged spear. It is used for spear fishing and historically as a polearm. The trident is the weapon of Poseidon, or Neptune, the God of the Sea in classical mythology. The trident may occasionally be held by other mari ...

, support the statement that the mother cities were

Troezen Troezen (; ancient Greek: Τροιζήν, modern Greek: Τροιζήνα ) is a small town and a former municipality in the northeastern Peloponnese, Greece, on the Argolid Peninsula. Since the 2011 local government reform it is part of the muni ...

and

Argos Argos most often refers to: * Argos, Peloponnese, a city in Argolis, Greece ** Ancient Argos, the ancient city * Argos (retailer), a catalogue retailer operating in the United Kingdom and Ireland Argos or ARGOS may also refer to: Businesses ...

. The inhabitants appear to have accepted

Anthes In Greek mythology, Anthas (Ancient Greek: Ἅνθας), also Anthes (Ἅνθης), was a son of Poseidon and Alcyone, and brother of Hyperes. The brothers were eponymous founders and first kings of the cities Hyperea and Anthea in a region they rei ...

, a son of Poseidon, as their legendary founder, as mentioned by Strabo, and were proud of the title ''Antheadae''. The Carian name for Halicarnassus has been tentatively identified with Alosδkarnosδ in inscriptions. In an early period, Halicarnassus was a member of the Doric Hexapolis, which included

Cnidus Knidos or Cnidus (; grc-gre, Κνίδος, , , Knídos) was a Greek city in ancient Caria and part of the Dorian Hexapolis, in south-western Asia Minor, modern-day Turkey. It was situated on the Datça peninsula, which forms the southern side o ...

, Lindos,

Kameiros Camirus or Kamiros ( grc, Κάμιρος; ) or Cameirus or Kameiros (Κάμειρος) was a city of ancient Rhodes, in the Dodecanese, Greece. Its site is on the northwest coast of the island, west of the modern village of Kalavarda. History ...

, and

Ialysus Ialysus or Ialysos ( gr, Ἰάλυσος), also Ialyssus or Ialyssos (Ἰάλυσσος), or Ielyssus or Ielyssos (Ἰήλυσσος), was a city of ancient Rhodes. It was one of the three ancient Doric cities in the island, and one of the six towns ...

; but it was expelled from the league when one of its citizens, Agasicles, took home the prize tripod that he had won in the Triopian games instead of dedicating it according to custom to the Triopian

Apollo Apollo, grc, Ἀπόλλωνος, Apóllōnos, label=genitive , ; , grc-dor, Ἀπέλλων, Apéllōn, ; grc, Ἀπείλων, Apeílōn, label= Arcadocypriot Greek, ; grc-aeo, Ἄπλουν, Áploun, la, Apollō, la, Apollinis, label ...

. In the early 5th century, Halicarnassus was under the sway of

Artemisia I of Caria Artemisia I of Caria ( grc, Ἀρτεμισία; fl. 480 BC) was a queen of the ancient Greek city-state of Halicarnassus and of the nearby islands of Kos, Nisyros and Kalymnos,Enc. Britannica, "Artemisia I" within the Achaemenid satrapy of ...

(also known as Artemesia of Halicarnassus), who made herself famous as a naval commander at the battle of Salamis. Little is known of Pisindalis, her son and successor; but Lygdamis, the

tyrant A tyrant (), in the modern English usage of the word, is an absolute ruler who is unrestrained by law, or one who has usurped a legitimate ruler's sovereignty. Often portrayed as cruel, tyrants may defend their positions by resorting to re ...

of Halicarnassus, who next attained power, is notorious for having the poet

Panyasis Panyassis of Halicarnassus, sometimes known as Panyasis ( grc, Πανύασις), was a 5th-century BC Greek epic poet from Halicarnassus in the Persian Empire (modern-day Bodrum, Turkey). Life Panyassis was the son of Polyarchus ( grc, Πο ...

put to death and forcing

Herodotus Herodotus ( ; grc, , }; BC) was an ancient Greek historian and geographer A geographer is a physical scientist, social scientist or humanist whose area of study is geography, the study of Earth's natural environment and human society ...

, possibly the most well-known Halicarnassian, to leave his native city (c. 457 BC).

Persian rule

The city later fell under

rule. Under the Persians, it was the capital city of the

, the region that long afterward constituted its hinterland and of which it was the principal port. Its strategic location ensured that the city enjoyed considerable autonomy. Archaeological evidence from the period, such as the recently discovered Salmakis (''Kaplankalesi'') Inscription, now in Bodrum Museum of Underwater Archaeology, attests to the particular pride its inhabitants had developed.

ruled Caria from here, nominally on behalf of the Persians but practically independently, for much of his reign from 377 to 353 BC. When he died in 353 BC,

Artemisia II of Caria Artemisia II of Caria (Greek: Ἀρτεμισία; died 350 BC) was a naval strategist, commander and the sister (and later spouse) and the successor of Mausolus, ruler of Caria. Mausolus was a satrap of the Achaemenid Empire, yet enjoyed the s ...

, who was both his sister and his widow, employed the

architects An architect is a person who plans, designs and oversees the construction of buildings. To practice architecture means to provide services in connection with the design of buildings and the space within the site surrounding the buildings that h ...

Satyros, Pythis, and the

sculptors Sculpture is the branch of the visual arts that operates in three dimensions. Sculpture is the three-dimensional art work which is physically presented in the dimensions of height, width and depth. It is one of the plastic arts. Durable ...

Bryaxis,

Scopas Scopas ( grc-gre, Σκόπας; born in Paros, fl. 4th century BCE) was an ancient Greek sculptor and architect, most famous for his statue of Meleager, the copper statue of Aphrodite, and the head of goddess Hygieia, daughter of Asclepius. Ea ...

Leochares Leochares () was a Greek sculptor from Athens, who lived in the 4th century BC. Works Leochares worked at the construction of the Mausoleum of Mausolos at Halicarnassus, one of the "Seven Wonders of the Ancient World". The '' Diana of Versaill ...

, and

Timotheus Timotheus is a masculine male name. It is a latinized version of the Greek name (Timόtheos) mmeaning "one who honours God", from τιμή "honour" and θεός "god"., . The English version '' Timothy'' (and its variations) is a common name in ...

to build a monument and a tomb for him. The word " mausoleum" derives from the structure of this tomb. It was a temple-like structure decorated with reliefs and statuary on a massive base. Today only the foundations and a few pieces of sculpture remain.

Hellenistic and Roman periods

Alexander the Great Alexander III of Macedon ( grc, Ἀλέξανδρος, Alexandros; 20/21 July 356 BC – 10/11 June 323 BC), commonly known as Alexander the Great, was a king of the ancient Greek kingdom of Macedon. He succeeded his father Philip II to ...

laid siege to the city after his arrival in the Carian lands and, together with his ally, Queen

Ada of Caria Ada of Caria ( grc, Ἄδα) (fl. 377 – 326 BC)377 BC is the date of her father's death: was a member of the House of Hecatomnus (the Hecatomnids) and ruler of Caria during the mid-4th century BC, first as Persian Satrap and later as Queen un ...

, captured it after fighting in 334 BC. After Alexander's death, the rule of the city passed to Antigonus I (311 BC), Lysimachus (after 301 BC), and the Ptolemies (281–197 BC) and was briefly an independent kingdom until 129 BC, when it came under Roman rule. A series of earthquakes destroyed much of the city, as well as the great Mausoleum, while repeated pirate attacks from the Mediterranean wreaked further havoc on the area. By the time of the early Christian

Byzantine The Byzantine Empire, also referred to as the Eastern Roman Empire or Byzantium, was the continuation of the Roman Empire primarily in its eastern provinces during Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, when its capital city was Constantinopl ...

era, when Halicarnassus was an important bishopric, there was little left of the shining city of Mausoluos.

Medieval era

Crusader Knights arrived in 1402 and used the remains of the Mausoleum as a quarry to build the still impressively standing

(''Castle of Saint Peter''), a well-preserved example of late Crusader architecture in the eastern Mediterranean. The

(''Knights of St. John'') were given permission to build it by the Ottoman sultan

Mehmed I Mehmed I ( 1386 – 26 May 1421), also known as Mehmed Çelebi ( ota, چلبی محمد, "the noble-born") or Kirişçi ( el, Κυριτζής, Kyritzis, "lord's son"), was the Ottoman sultan from 1413 to 1421. The fourth son of Sultan Bayezid ...

after

Tamerlane Timur ; chg, ''Aqsaq Temür'', 'Timur the Lame') or as ''Sahib-i-Qiran'' ( 'Lord of the Auspicious Conjunction'), his epithet. ( chg, ''Temür'', 'Iron'; 9 April 133617–19 February 1405), later Timūr Gurkānī ( chg, ''Temür Kür ...

destroyed their previous fortress in

İzmir İzmir ( , ; ), also spelled Izmir, is a metropolitan city in the western extremity of Anatolia, capital of the province of the same name. It is the third most populous city in Turkey, after Istanbul and Ankara and the second largest urban aggl ...

's inner bay. The castle and its town became known as Petronium, whence the modern name Bodrum. In 1522,

conquered the base of the Crusader knights on the island of

Rhodes Rhodes (; el, Ρόδος , translit=Ródos ) is the largest and the historical capital of the Dodecanese islands of Greece. Administratively, the island forms a separate municipality within the Rhodes regional unit, which is part of the S ...

, who then relocated first briefly to

Sicily (man) it, Siciliana (woman) , population_note = , population_blank1_title = , population_blank1 = , demographics_type1 = Ethnicity , demographics1_footnotes = , demographi ...

and later permanently to

Malta Malta ( , , ), officially the Republic of Malta ( mt, Repubblika ta' Malta ), is an island country in the Mediterranean Sea. It consists of an archipelago, between Italy and Libya, and is often considered a part of Southern Europe. It lies ...

, leaving the Castle of Saint Peter and Bodrum to the

Ottoman Empire The Ottoman Empire, * ; is an archaic version. The definite article forms and were synonymous * and el, Оθωμανική Αυτοκρατορία, Othōmanikē Avtokratoria, label=none * info page on book at Martin Luther University) ...

Modern era

Bodrum was a quiet town of fishermen and sponge divers until the early 20th century. In her book ''Bodrum'', Fatma Mansur points out that the presence of a large community of bilingual

Cretan Turks The Cretan Muslims ( el, Τουρκοκρητικοί or , or ; tr, Giritli, , or ; ar, أتراك كريت) or Cretan Turks were the Muslim inhabitants of the island of Crete. Their descendants settled principally in Turkey, the Dodecanese ...

, coupled with the conditions of free trade and access to the southern Dodecanese islands until 1935, made the town less provincial. The fact that traditional agriculture was not a very rewarding activity in the rather dry peninsula also prevented the formation of a class of large landowners. Bodrum has no notable history of political or religious extremism. A first nucleus of intellectuals started to form after the 1950s around the writer

Cevat Şakir Kabaağaçlı Cevat Şakir Kabaağaçlı (17 April 1890 – 13 October 1973; born Musa Cevat Şakir; pen-name "The Fisherman of Halicarnassus", tr, Halikarnas Balıkçısı) was a Cretan Turkish writer of novels, short-stories and essays, as well as a ke ...

, who first came here in exile two decades previously and was charmed by the town to the point of adopting the pen name ''Halikarnas Balıkçısı'' ('The Fisherman of Halicarnassus').

Geography

Climate

Bodrum has a hot summer

Mediterranean climate A Mediterranean climate (also called a dry summer temperate climate ''Cs'') is a temperate climate sub-type, generally characterized by warm, dry summers and mild, fairly wet winters; these weather conditions are typically experienced in the ...

(''Csa'' in the

Köppen climate classification The Köppen climate classification is one of the most widely used climate classification systems. It was first published by German-Russian climatologist Wladimir Köppen (1846–1940) in 1884, with several later modifications by Köppen, notabl ...

). The average temperature is around in winter and in summer, with many sunny spells. Summers are hot and mostly sunny, and winters are mild and humid.

Main sights

The Castle of St. Peter, also known as Bodrum Castle, is one of the main attractions of the peninsula. The castle was built by the

during the 15th century, and the walls of the fortification contain pieces of the ruins of the Mausoleum, which was used as a source of construction materials. The Castle of Bodrum retains its original design and character of the Knights' period and reflects

Gothic architecture Gothic architecture (or pointed architecture) is an architectural style that was prevalent in Europe from the late 12th to the 16th century, during the High and Late Middle Ages, surviving into the 17th and 18th centuries in some areas. It ...

. It also contains the Bodrum Museum of Underwater Archaeology, a museum established by the Turkish government in 1962 to host the underwater discoveries of ancient shipwrecks in the

Aegean Sea The Aegean Sea ; tr, Ege Denizi (Greek: Αιγαίο Πέλαγος: "Egéo Pélagos", Turkish: "Ege Denizi" or "Adalar Denizi") is an elongated embayment of the Mediterranean Sea between Europe and Asia. It is located between the Balkans ...

. In 2016, the castle was included in the

Tentative list of World Heritage Sites in Turkey Below is the tentative list of UNESCO World Heritage Sites in Turkey. (For the criteria see the selection criteria.) Tentative List Geographical distribution See also *List of World Heritage Sites in Turkey The United Nations Educati ...

. The castle has been under renovation since 2017, and only some parts of it are accessible to visitors. Built in the fourth century BC, the ruins of the

are also among the main sights in Bodrum. The

was a tomb designed by

Greek Greek may refer to: Greece Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group. *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family. **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor ...

and built for

, a satrap of the Persian Empire, and his sister-wife

. The structure was considered one of the

,. By the 12th century CE, the structure had largely been destroyed. Today, the ruins of the tomb continue to attract both domestic and international tourists. It is planned to turn the ruins into an

open-air museum An open-air museum (or open air museum) is a museum that exhibits collections of buildings and artifacts out-of-doors. It is also frequently known as a museum of buildings or a folk museum. Definition Open air is “the unconfined atmosphere� ...

. Besides the Bodrum Museum of Underwater Archaeology, other museums are also located on the peninsula. Zeki Müren Art Museum is dedicated to Turkish classical musician

Zeki Müren Zeki Müren (; 6 December 1931 – 24 September 1996) was a Turkish singer, composer, songwriter, actor and poet. Known by the nicknames "The Sun of Art" and "Pasha", he was one of the prominent figures of the Ottoman classical music, Turkish cla ...

. After his death, the house in Bodrum where he lived during the later years of his life was transformed into the

Art Museum by order of the Ministry of Culture and was opened to the public on June 8, 2000. Bodrum Maritime Museum is another museum dedicated to the classification, exhibition, restoration, conservation, storage, and safekeeping of historical documents, works, and objects that are important to the city's maritime history. Bodrum City Museum is a minor museum in the city center that presents the general history of the Bodrum peninsula. File:Bodrum Theatre.jpg, Theatre at Halicarnassus File:The ruins of the Mausoleum at Halicarnassus.jpg, The ruins of the

File:Bodrum, Muğla Province, Turkey - panoramio (12).jpg, Entrance of Museum of Underwater Archaeology File:Turkey.Bodrum040.jpg, Collection of

amphoras An amphora (; grc, ἀμφορεύς, ''amphoreús''; English plural: amphorae or amphoras) is a type of container with a pointed bottom and characteristic shape and size which fit tightly (and therefore safely) against each other in storag ...

in Museum of Underwater Archaeology File:Zeki Müren heykeli.jpg,

's statue at Zeki Müren Art Museum File:Windmill ruins in Bodrum.jpg, Windmills of Bodrum

Demographics

The population of the town center of Bodrum was 35,795 in the 2012 census. The surrounding towns and villages had an additional population of 100,522, with a cumulative total of 136,317 inhabitants residing within the district's borders.

Historical population

Government

The district of Bodrum is one of 957 in Turkey. It is in

, which is part of the Aydin Subregion, which, in turn, is part of the Aegean Region. Bodrum became a sub-district of the Ottoman Empire in 1871 and a district of Muğla Province in 1872. Bodrum Municipality operates with its 18 directorates and subsidiary units in the entire Bodrum Peninsula, which covers an area of 689 km² and a coastline of 215 km. The organizational structure of Bodrum Municipality is composed of the mayor, four deputy mayors, and 18 directorates. Muğla location Bodrum

Bodrum Municipality served as the sole district municipality in the Bodrum region for many years. With the increase in the population of the peninsula, a town municipality called Karatoprak (

Turgutreis Turgutreis is a town in Turkey about a 50-minute drive from Milas–Bodrum Airport. It is the second largest town on the Bodrum peninsula and is part of that district, in Muğla. The town is a popular holiday destination with 5 kilometres of sandy ...

) was established in 1967. The increase in the population also led to the establishment of the Mumcular (1972), Yalıkavak (1989), and Gündoğan Municipalities (1992). Following the new municipality law of 1999, many villages in Bodrum were turned into towns: Ortakent-Yahşi with the integration of Ortakent and Yahşi villages, Göltürkbükü with the integration of Gölköy, and

Türkbükü Türkbükü is a coastal town in Muğla Province in southwestern Turkey, located on the Turkish Riviera on the opposite side of the Bodrum peninsula from the town of Bodrum Bodrum () is a port city in Muğla Province, southwestern Turkey, at the ...

and

Yalı A yalı ( tr, yalı, from Greek ''yialí'' (mod. ''yialós''), literally "seashore, beach") is a house or mansion built right on the waterside (almost exclusively seaside, particularly on the Bosphorus strait in Istanbul) and usually built with ...

with the integration of Yalı and Kızılağaç villages. The same year, the municipalities of

Gümüşlük Gümüşlük is a seaside village and fishing port in Bodrum, Muğla Province, southwestern Turkey. Location In the Aegean Region, it is situated on the remains of the ancient city of Myndos. The remains of the foundations of buildings can be ...

, Konacık, and Bitez were also founded, raising the number of municipalities in the Bodrum Peninsula to 11. After Muğla Province received metropolitan municipality status, these town municipalities were abolished, and all towns across the province were integrated into the city of Bodrum. Since March 30, 2014, the peninsula has been governed as a sole municipality.

Economy

During the 20th century, the city's economy was mainly based on fishing and sponge diving. Even though naked sponge diving in the Aegean region can be traced back at least 3,000 years, modern sponge diving became prevalent in Bodrum after

Koan A (; , ; ko, 화두, ; vi, công án) is a story, dialogue, question, or statement which is used in Zen practice to provoke the "great doubt" and to practice or test a student's progress in Zen. Etymology The Japanese term is the Sino-J ...

and Cretan immigrants settled in the city in the early 1920s, after the

population exchange between Greece and Turkey The 1923 population exchange between Greece and Turkey ( el, Ἡ Ἀνταλλαγή, I Antallagí, ota, مبادله, Mübâdele, tr, Mübadele) stemmed from the "Convention Concerning the Exchange of Greek and Turkish Populations" signed at ...

. During its golden age between 1945 and 1965, about 150 boats engaged in sponge diving activities in Bodrum. However, sponge diseases, artificial sponge production, and a ban on sponge diving eventually ended this lucrative industry. Turkey

Over the years, tourism became a major activity and income source for local communities. The abundance of visitors has also enlivened Bodrum's retail and service industries. Leather goods, particularly for traditional woven sandals, are well-known products. Other traditional goods, such as tangerine-flavored

Turkish delight Turkish delight or lokum ( ota, لوقوم) is a family of confections based on a gel of starch and sugar. Premium varieties consist largely of chopped dates, pistachios, hazelnuts or walnuts bound by the gel; traditional varieties are often fl ...

, nazar amulets, and handicrafts are popular souvenirs. Apart from small shopping facilities, the city hosts a few shopping malls, such as Midtown and Oasis. There are also marinas for yachts and small ships, such as Milta Bodrum Marina, D-Marin Turgutreis, and the award-winning Yalıkavak Marina. The Carian Trail, which passes by Bodrum and the surrounding Kızılağaç and Pedasa ruins, attracts hikers from both inside and outside Turkey.

Culture

Architecture

Traditional Bodrum houses are characterized by their prismatic shapes, simple designs and locally sourced building materials like stone, wood, clay and cane. They also tend to have white dominated exterior walls with some blue parts (doors, windows). The tradition of white-washed walls is associated with the bug and scorpion repellent properties of lime, which is found in white paint. It is also traditionally applied in most hot regions for heat-reflecting properties of white color. Blue is also believed by locals to protect against the malicious effects of envy (similar to the Anatolian belief Nazar, originated in

Mesopotamia Mesopotamia ''Mesopotamíā''; ar, بِلَاد ٱلرَّافِدَيْن or ; syc, ܐܪܡ ܢܗܪ̈ܝܢ, or , ) is a historical region of Western Asia situated within the Tigris–Euphrates river system, in the northern part of the ...

). According to

Muğla Muğla () is a city in southwestern Turkey. The city is the center of the District of Menteşe and Muğla Province, which stretches along Turkey's Aegean coast. Muğla's center is situated inland at an altitude of 660 m and lies at a dista ...

Municipality, in order to acquire a building permit one has to agree to paint the walls of the new building white. Use of any paint other than white on the exterior walls of a building was officially banned by Muğla Governor Temel Koçaklar in 2006. This was implemented to protect the historical fabric and cultural identity of the city.

Events and festivals

Bodrum International Ballet Festival has been held in Bodrum every summer since 2002. Bodrum has also hosted the Bodrum International Biennial since 2014. Bodrum Baroque Music Festival is another, annual, music event held in the city.

Transportation

Airports

There are no civilian airports located in the district's borders and

and

Kos Island International Airport Kos International Airport ( el, Διεθνής Αερολιμένας Κω; also known as Hippocrates) is an international airport on the island of Kos in Greece. It is located near Andimachia Village, and is operated by Fraport AG, all operat ...

are the main airports that serve the city. Milas–Bodrum Airport is located northeast of Bodrum, with both domestic and international flights. Kos Island International Airport, to the SW, located in Andimachia,

Greece Greece,, or , romanized: ', officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the southern tip of the Balkans, and is located at the crossroads of Europe, Asia, and Africa. Greece shares land borders ...

, accessible by boats from Bodrum across a stretch of the

. Aside from year-round flights to

destinations, Kos airport's traffic is seasonal. Built in 1987, Bodrum-Imsik Airport once served the city before its closure to commercial flights in the late 90's. Due to financial and legal problems caused by a landownership dispute, the airport was sold to

Presidency of Defense Industries In Turkey, Defence Industry Agency ( tr, Savunma Sanayii Başkanlığı (SSB)); formerly ''Presidency of Defense Industries'' and ''Undersecretariat for Defence Industries (SSM)'' before that, is a civil institution established by the government t ...

in 1997. It is currently being operated as an

air base An air base (sometimes referred to as a military air base, military airfield, military airport, air station, naval air station, air force station, or air force base) is an aerodrome used as a military base by a military force for the operation ...

Bus

The main bus station of Bodrum district used to be located in the city center, but this has changed in 2021 when it was moved to a newly-built facility in Torba, around 6 km away from the town to ease traffic jams in the city center during the high season. The old bus station still has the interdistict buses, but intercity bus services to other locations in Turkey were redirected to the new station. The new station is powered by

solar power Solar power is the conversion of energy from sunlight into electricity, either directly using photovoltaics (PV) or indirectly using concentrated solar power. Photovoltaic cells convert light into an electric current using the photovolta ...

, and contains 6 electric car charging units, which was described to be a first for a bus terminal in Turkey by the Muğla Mayor Osman Gürün. Most of the public transportation in the city is based on local shared taxis called " dolmuş". Each of these privately owned minibuses displays their particular route on signboards behind the windscreens.Turkish Dolmus Taxi or Minibus
turkeytravelplanner.com The word derives from the Turkish for "full" or "stuffed", as these shared taxis depart from the terminal only when a sufficient number of passengers have boarded.Bus Services in North Cyprus
essentialcyprus.com, January 28, 2009. Apart from these minibuses Muğla Municipality also has a scheduled bus service program between towns on the Bodrum peninsula. Public transportation between major towns such as Gümbet, Bitez,

and the main bus station is non-stop.

Port

The port has ferries to other nearby Turkish and Greek ports and islands. Bodrum has three large marinas and cruise berths. The first marina, Milta, is located in the center of Bodrum. The second marina is located in Turgutreis, and the third, Palmarina, in Yalikavak.

Wildlife

Maquis shrubland biome, which is the typical vegetation of the Mediterranean climate, is widespread in Bodrum, especially near the coast. Forests cover 61.3% of the district. Conifers such as pines, larches, stone pines, cedars and junipers are the dominant trees in the region. Forested areas are prone to

fires Fire is the rapid oxidation of a material (the fuel) in the exothermic chemical process of combustion, releasing heat, light, and various reaction products. At a certain point in the combustion reaction, called the ignition point, flames are pr ...

and wildfires are common in the district's history. 95% of forest fires in Turkey are believed to be caused by human activities and there are concerns that forests are deliberately being set on fire to enlarge the city. The ruling party AKP has been criticized in the media for giving building permits to construct new hotels on burnt and deforested areas. Wild boars and foxes are prevalent in the area, as are other animals such as pygmy cormorants, Dalmatian pelicans and lesser kestrels. The region is also home to the endangered and internationally protected

Mediterranean monk seal The Mediterranean monk seal (''Monachus monachus'') is a monk seal belonging to the family Phocidae. , it is estimated that fewer than 700 individuals survive in three or four isolated subpopulations in the Mediterranean, (especially) in the Ae ...

Notable people

– ancient Greek historian *

Scylax of Caryanda Scylax of Caryanda ( el, Σκύλαξ ὁ Καρυανδεύς) was a Greek explorer and writer of the late 6th and early 5th centuries BCE. His own writings are lost, though occasionally cited or quoted by later Greek and Roman authors. The peri ...

– ancient explorer *

Julian of Halicarnassus Julian, bishop of Halicarnassus (Greek: Ίουλιανός Άλικαρνασσού, d. after 527), also known as Julian the Phantastiast, was an anti-Chalcedonian theologian who contested with Severus of Antioch over the ''phtharos'' of Christ. ...

was a bishop in the early 6th century. *

– Carian ruler *

– Carian ruler * Dionysius – ancient Greek historian and teacher of rhetoric in the Roman period *

Turgut Reis Dragut ( tr, Turgut Reis) (1485 – 23 June 1565), known as "The Drawn Sword of Islam", was a Muslim Ottoman naval commander, governor, and noble, of Turkish or Greek descent. Under his command, the Ottoman Empire's maritime power was extend ...

– Ottoman Turkish admiral * Halikarnas Balıkçısı, literally 'The Fisherman of Halicarnassus' or

– Turkish writer born in

Istanbul ) , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = 34000 to 34990 , area_code = +90 212 (European side) +90 216 (Asian side) , registration_plate = 34 , blank_name_sec2 = GeoTLD , blank_i ...

, resident of Bodrum for decades and a symbol for the town *

Neyzen Tevfik Tevfik Kolaylı (March 24, 1879 – January 28, 1953), better known by his pen name Neyzen Tevfik, was a Turkish poet, satirist, and ''neyzen'' (a " ney performer" in Turkish). He was born in Bodrum and died in Istanbul. His name is occasio ...

– Turkish ney virtuoso and pundit *

– Turkish singer born in Bursa, resident of Bodrum for decades and a symbol for the town * Janet Akyüz Mattei – director of the

American Association of Variable Star Observers The American Association of Variable Star Observers (AAVSO) is an international nonprofit organization, founded in 1911, focused on coordinating, analyzing, publishing, and archiving variable star observations made largely by amateur astronomers. ...

(

AAVSO The American Association of Variable Star Observers (AAVSO) is an international nonprofit organization, founded in 1911, focused on coordinating, analyzing, publishing, and archiving variable star observations made largely by amateur astronomers ...

) from 1973 to 2004 *

Abdurrahman Nafiz Gürman Abd al-Rahman ( ar, عبد الرحمن, translit=ʿAbd al-Raḥmān or occasionally ; DMG ''ʿAbd ar-Raḥman''; also Abdul Rahman) is a male Arabic Muslim given name, and in modern usage, surname. It is built from the Arabic words '' Abd'', '' ...

– military officer in the Ottoman and Turkish armies * Zeynep Çamcı – Turkish actress

Twin towns — sister cities

Bodrum is twinned with: * Prizren,

Kosovo Kosovo ( sq, Kosova or ; sr-Cyrl, Косово ), officially the Republic of Kosovo ( sq, Republika e Kosovës, links=no; sr, Република Косово, Republika Kosovo, links=no), is a partially recognised state in Southeast Euro ...

Portimão Portimão () is a city and a municipality in the district of Faro, in the Algarve region of southern Portugal. The population in 2011 was 55,614, in an area of 182.06 km2. It was formerly known as Vila Nova de Portimão (). In 1924, it was ...

Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic ( pt, República Portuguesa, links=yes ), is a country whose mainland is located on the Iberian Peninsula of Southwestern Europe, and whose territory also includes the Atlantic archipelagos of ...

Eskişehir Eskişehir ( , ; from "old" and "city") is a city in northwestern Turkey and the capital of the Eskişehir Province. The urban population of the city is 898,369 with a metropolitan population of 797,708. The city is located on the banks of the ...

Wakayama Wakayama may refer to: *Wakayama Prefecture, a prefecture of Japan *Wakayama (city) Wakayama City Hall is the capital city of Wakayama Prefecture in the Kansai region of Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 351,391 in 157066 househol ...

, Japan

References

External links

Turkish Republic Municipalities of Bodrum

Ministry of Culture and Tourism: Bodrum

Bodrum Webcam

Bodrum Instagram Account
* {{Authority control Populated places in Muğla Province Turkish Riviera Populated coastal places in Turkey Ancient Greek archaeological sites in Turkey Dorian colonies Aegean Sea port cities and towns in Turkey Districts of Muğla Province Halicarnassus Important Bird Areas of Turkey