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Bodrum – Turkey

View of Bodrum harbor in Turkey
View of Bodrum harbor in Turkey

Bodrum (Halicarnassus) – Turkey

Renowned for its history, famed for the touristic infrastructure and luxury services offered to its millions of tourists every year, Bodrum is just 10 nautical miles from Kos, and is accessible by boat from the island on a daily basis. This coastal Turkish town, birthplace of Herodotus, father of history, was named Halicarnassus in antiquity and was a Doric colony along with six other neighboring cities.

The city allied itself with the Persians in the expedition led by Xerxes against the Greeks; was host to one of the seven wonders of the ancient world, the Mausoleum of Halicarnassus dedicated to the memory of Mausolos the satrap (governor); was subjugated to the greatness of Alexander the Great; dominated by the Ptolemies and gradually fell into decline through to the Byzantine years.

In 1404, it was seized by the Knights of St. John, who destroyed its inimitable mausoleum (it has been estimated that the Mausoleum had a height of 45 meters, was white in color and was a combination of Greek peristyle architecture with a pyramidal stepped roof. The structure was designed by Greek architects Satyros and Pythius and adorned with the sculpture of four master Greek sculptors), while in 1522 the city was conquered by Suleiman the Magnificent and took on its Turkish name, Bodrum. Bodrum today is a cosmopolitan city with a state of the art boat marina, vibrant nightlife, shopping for all tastes and budgets and a lively bazaar –a true labyrinth of small and larger interconnected shops -selling a huge array of souvenirs and local products.

Its magnificent crystal-clear waters attract visitors from around the globe, who come here not only for the area’s natural beauties and impeccable services, but for its fabled history and monuments as well, including the ruins of ancient Halicarnassus, Bodrum Castle and the city’s archaeological museum, which houses the most extensive collection of ancient amphorae in the world.

Map information of Bodrum – Turkey

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