THE BODRUM CASTLE
St Peter’s Castle stands guard over the harbour entrance, as the beautiful yachts and Gulets cruise quietly by drenched in sunlight by day, fabulously illuminated by night. The castle is without doubt the focal point of Bodrum.
The striking crusader castle of St.Peter, the Petronian with its well-preserved wall ad towers, dominates the town; it is one of the great showpieces of Medieval Archetecture. The castle has four towers, the English, the French, the Italian and the German tower, plus a dungeon, the doorway inscribed with the foreboding words ‘Inde Dues Abest’.
It was built between 1402 and 1437 by the Knights Hospitallers of St.John of Jerusalem, based on Rhodes. The castle houses the award-winning Museum of Underwater Archaeology. The museum holds some real treasures. The Glass Ship wreck Hall holds a wreck that was found 33 metres down off Yassi Ada ( near Marmaris ) in 1973.
The oldest found, the wreck dates to 1025 and was a vessel carrying 25 tons of commercial glass between Byzantine and Fatimid ports. Many of these artefacts actually survived in one piece all those years underwater. There are also exhibits of amphorae and a 7th century eastern Roman shipwreck on display. Undoubtedly the most awe – inspiring exhibits is the resting – place of Princess Ada. Her remains and sarcophagus were found in 1989 on a hill above Bodrum during construction work.
She was the sister of King Mausolos and the wife of Idreus. She died around 360 – 325 BC at the age of 40 and was buried along with her gold jewellery and wreath of myrtle leaves, all of which are on display. Her skull was sent to Manchester University for facial reconstruction, so now on entering the exhibition it is the fine lady herself who greets you !
Under Carian law woman enjoyed great authority as wives of their brothers and when King Mausolos ( who reigned 376 – 353 BC ) died, his sister-wife Artemisia II succeeded him. It was she who commissioned the construction of the Mausoleum, one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World, in his honour.
Its architect was Pytheos and it was decorated with friezes made by the most celebrated Greek sculptors. The colossal white marble and green stone tombs stood 46 meters high and was surely a sight to behold. The friezes depicted battle scenes of Alexander’s successful campaign against the Persians.
Erected in 351 BC the Mausoleum survived in good condition until 12th century, when it was damaged by earthquake and was totally destroyed in 1552 when Rhodium knights took down the long standing walls of the Mausoleum to reinforce the Castle against Ottoman attack. Indeed, the green stones of the Mausoleum can be seen throughout the castle today.
ENGLISH TOWER
Located at the southwest corner of the castle, English Tower was built with the contributions from England. The tower had originally three floors. The gate, which is situated at the second floor, opens into a great vaulted room with three windows. All the knights used as refectory or as a dining room this hall.
English Tower is decorated by many coats of Arms on its walls. On the Main entry, there is display of British Heraldry. English Tower, which was built during the time of Henry IV, offers to visitors most amazing collection of Coat of Arms of main contributors.
Visitors see the arms of the king and members of Royal Family and 14 coats of arms representing Knights of the Garter.On the west wall, visitors see a lion figure form ancient Halicarnasus and a carving depicting the coats of England. British Tower west side Coats of arms of Henry IV.
FRENCH TOWER
French Tower is one of the two impressive towers, situated just in the center of the castle. During the earliest construction period, since the master of the order was French Philibert Naillac, French Tower was constructed as the most dominating tower of the castle. His coat of arms, accompanied of those of France and Pope are put on the east wall of the tower
GERMAN TOWER
The Knights used as dining place and as refectory German Tower. German knight were smallest in number among the Knights. Over the door of the German Tower, there is surprising coat of arms depicting double-headed eagle. It is also suggested German Tower was used as hospital building during the occupation of Knights.
ITALIAN TOWER
Italian Tower is centrally located (near French Tower) and one of the highest tower of the castle. One of the interesting carvings on the Italian tower is an Ionic Capital with an inscription mentioning Italy. This capital originating from Mausoleum of Halicarnasus surrounds the arms of Ancelo Muscetola who was the first captain of the castle and held the office from 1431 to 1434. One of the notable coats of arms on the Italian Tower shows wine with the grapes and a column. This coat of arms of Tomas Provana of Italy who was the captain of the castle in 1490
SNAKE TOWER
The Snake Tower in the castle was used by the Spanish Knights. Due to existence of a carving depicting a serpent, it was known as Snake Tower. Because of the fact the serpent was the sacred animal of God of Healing, it was well accepted that the tower was used as hospital. Present day there is spectacular exhibit of amphorae in the tower.
BODRUM CASTLE : Everyday : 09:00 – 12:00 | 14:00 – 19:00 | Mondays Close
ADDRESS : Iskele Meydani.
Museum of Underwater Archaeology
Visitors to Bodrum should start with the castle of Knights of John, which is great witness to amazing history of the castle. Thanks to efforts of Turkish and foreign scholars who carried out successful archeological digs both on land and at sea, the castle is turned into one of the greatest Underwater Archeology museums of the world. The museum starts an Amphora Park where visitors enjoy various types of amphorae coming from famous wine producing centers of the world.
Today it is one of the most important and biggest museums of its type in the world. The works of art obtained as a result of the excavations started in the 1960’s are exhibited in this museum that is located inside the Bodrum Castle.
In the museum, the Eastern Mediterranean amphorae collection, the findings obtained as a result of the researches made on the wrecks near Bodrum are exhibited here. Some main wrecks are Yassiada, Evil Stream, Serce Harbor wrecks. World’s oldest wreck ship ruin is a work worth to be seen.
Visitors Times : 10:00-12:00, 14:00-17:00
Visitors Days : Everyday except Monday