About Bodrum
Bodrum is not only a city with a rich history, but it is also a small sunshine paradise in the Aegean.
Today’s Bodrum was built on the remains of the antique Harnikarnassus and many finds bear witness to 5000 years of Bodrum’s ancient history. Many different civilizations conquered the area, the Carians, Lycians, the Romans, Aeolian and Ionian Greeks (who founded many important cities, such as Byzantium – now Istanbul), the Ottomans and others. Homer writes in his “Ilias”, that the Carians helped defend Troy. In 5 BC the Persian King Mausolus established Harnikarnassus as the capital of Caria and forced his subjects to settle on the Bodrum peninsula. Mausolus had a monumental shrine erected, the “Mausoleum of Mausolus”, today found on the list of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World. Original fragments can still be seen in the British Museum in London. Until today this type of shrine is called a “Mausoleum” – after the king of the Caria.
Modern Bodrum has 31.000 inhabitants and dazzles with its white buildings with their rich Bougainvillea decorations, the bustling activities in the bazaar- and harbor-quarters, and with hundreds of extraordinarily beautiful yachts, which seem to be magically attracted by Bodrum Bay. In one of the most beautiful bays of the world we can see Bodrum’s landmark, the Castle of St. Peter, built in the 15th century by the Order of St. John. Bodrum, also called the “Saint Tropez of Turkey”, has a lot to offer for all tastes. The spectrum ranges from a tranquil atmosphere to top nightclubs.
