Bodrum is a district and a port city in Muğla Province, in the southwestern Aegean
Region of Turkey. It is located on the southern coast of Bodrum Peninsula, at a point
that checks the entry into the Gulf of Gökova, and is also the center of the
eponymous district.
The city was called Halicarnassus of Caria in ancient times and was famous for
housing the Mausoleum of Mausolus, one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World.
Bodrum Castle, built by the Knights Hospitaller in the 15th century, overlooks the
harbour and the marina.
The castle grounds include a Museum of Underwater Archaeology and hosts several
cultural festivals throughout the year. Halicarnassus (Ancient Greek: Ἁλικαρνᾱσσός
Halikarnassós or λικαρνασσός Alikarnassós; Turkish: Halikarnas) was an ancient
Greek city at the site of modern Bodrum in Turkey. Halicarnassus were founded by
Dorian Greeks, and the figures on its coins, such as the head of Medusa, Athena or
Poseidon, or the trident, support the statement that the mother cities were Troezen
and Argos.
The inhabitants appear to have accepted Anthes, a son of Poseidon, as their
legendary founder, as mentioned by Strabo, and were proud of the title of
Antheadae.
The Carian name for Halicarnassus has been tentatively identified with
Alosδkarnosδ in inscriptions. At an early period Halicarnassus was a member of the
Doric Hexapolis, which included Kos, Cnidus, Lindos, Kameiros and Ialysus; but it
was expelled from the league when one of its citizens, Agasicles,
took home the prize tripod which he had won in the Triopian games, instead of
dedicating it according to custom to the Triopian Apollo.
In the early 5th century Halicarnassus was under the sway of Artemisia I of Caria
(also known as Artemesia of Halicarnassus), who made herself famous as a naval
commander at the battle of Salamis. Of Pisindalis, her son and successor, little is
known; but Lygdamis, who next attained power, is notorious for having put to death
the poet Panyasis and causing Herodotus, possibly the best known Halicarnassian,
to leave his native city.
The city later fell under Persian rule. Under the Persians, it was the capital city of the
satrapy of Caria, the region that had since long 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,
attest to the particular pride its inhabitants had developed.
BODRUM
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