Bodrum

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Bodrum
—  City[1]  —
Bodrum Castle (Castle of St. Peter)
City logo
Bodrum Location of Bodrum
Coordinates: 37°02′N 27°26′E / 37.033°N 27.433°E / 37.033; 27.433Coordinates: 37°02′N 27°26′E / 37.033°N 27.433°E / 37.033; 27.433
Country	Turkey
Region	Aegean
Province	Muğla
Government
• Mayor	Mehmet Kocadon (DP)
Population (2009)
• Total	118,237
Time zone	EET (UTC+2)
• Summer (DST)	EEST (UTC+3)
Postal code	48400
Area code(s)	(0090)+ 252
Licence plate	48
Website	www.bodrum.bel.tr

Bodrum is 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. 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 Crusaders in the 15th century, overlooks the harbour and the marina. The castle grounds include a Museum of Underwater Archeology and hosts several cultural festivals throughout the year.

The city had a population of 118,237 in 2009.

Geography

The region includes the municipalities of Bodrum, Turgutreis, Ortakent, Türkbükü, Yalıkavak, Gümüşlük, Bitez, Konacık, Yalı and Mumcular; with many tourist-oriented developments being constructed across the district area.

Etymology

The name Bodrum derives from Petronium, named from the Hospitaller Castle of St Peter (see history). The site was formerly known as Halicarnassus (Ancient Greek: Ἁλικαρνασσός,^[2] Turkish: Halikarnas) In Turkish, bodrum katı or bodrum also refers to a basement, cellar or dungeon.^[3]

Climate

Bodrum has a Mediterranean climate. A winter average high of 15 °C (59 °F) and in the summer 34 °C (93 °F), with very sunny spells. Summers are hot and humid and winters are mild and mostly sunny.

History

Surviving substructures and ruins of the Mausoleum of Mausolus, one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World, in Halicarnassus (modern Bodrum.)

Theatre of Halicarnassus in Bodrum, with the Bodrum Castle seen in the background.

The first recorded settlers in Bodrum region were the Carians and the harbor area was colonized by Dorian Greeks as of the 7th century BC. 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^{[clarification needed]} its inhabitants had developed.^[4] A famous native was Herodotus, the Greek historian (484-420 BC).

Mausolus ruled Caria from here, nominally on behalf of the Persians and independent in practical terms for much of his reign between 377 to 353 BC. When he died in 353 BC, Artemisia II of Caria, who was both his sister and his widow, employed the ancient Greek architects Satyros and Pythis, and the four sculptors Bryaxis, Scopas, Leochares and Timotheus to build a monument, as well as 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. It stood for 1700 years and was finally destroyed by earthquakes.^{[citation needed]} Today only the foundations and a few pieces of sculpture remain.

The Castle of St. Peter was built by the Knights Hospitaller.

Alexander the Great laid siege to the city after his arrival in Carian lands and, together with his ally, the queen Ada of Caria, captured it after heavy fighting.

Crusader Knights arrived in 1402 and used the remains of the Mausoleum as a quarry to build the still impressively standing Bodrum Castle (Castle of Saint Peter), which is a well-preserved example of the late Crusader architecture in the east Mediterranean. The Knights Hospitaller (Knights of St. John) were given the permission to build it by the Ottoman sultan Mehmed I, after Tamerlane had destroyed their previous fortress located in Izmir's inner bay. The castle and its town became known as Petronium, whence the modern name Bodrum derives.

In 1522, Suleiman the Magnificent conquered the base of the Crusader knights on the island of Rhodes, who then relocated first briefly to Sicily and later permanently to Malta, leaving the Castle of Saint Peter and Bodrum to the Ottoman Empire.

20th century

Bodrum marina.

Bodrum was a quiet town of fishermen and sponge divers until the mid-20th century; although, as Mansur points out, the presence of a large community of bilingual Cretan Turks, coupled with the conditions of free trade and access with the islands of the Southern Dodecanese until 1935 saved it from utter provincialism.^[5] 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 either. A first nucleus of intellectuals started to form after the 1950s around the writer Cevat Şakir Kabaağaçlı, who had first come here in exile two decades before and was charmed by the town to the point of adopting the pen name Halikarnas Balıkçısı ('The Fisherman of Halicarnassus').^[6]

Demographics

The population for the town of Bodrum was 32,227 in the 2000 census. By 2009, this had grown to 118,237.^{[citation needed]}

Economy

Bodrum has an active tourist economy. The sheltered anchorage contains yachts and locally-built gulets used by seafaring tourists.

Investors have purchased real estate, specifically as second homes.^{[citation needed]}.

Panoramic view of Cennet Koyu (Paradise Bay) in Göltürkbükü, Bodrum.

Notable people

Bodrum Castle mosque.

A gulet in the Gulf of Gökova.

• Herodotus – ancient Greek historian
• Mausolus – Carian ruler
• Artemisia II of Caria – Carian ruler
• Dionysius – ancient Greek historian and teacher of rhetoric in the Roman period
• Turgut Reis – Ottoman Turkish admiral
• Halikarnas Balıkçısı, literally 'The Fisherman of Halicarnassus' – Turkish writer born in Istanbul, resident of Bodrum for decades and a symbol for the town
• Neyzen Tevfik – Turkish ney virtuoso and pundit
• Zeki Müren – 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 (AAVSO) from 1973 to 2004

Twin towns — Sister cities

Bodrum is twinned with:

• Aalborg, Denmark
• Pleven, Bulgaria
• Haskovo, Bulgaria
• Guidan Roumji, Niger
• Trindade, São Tomé and Príncipe

See also

• Milas-Bodrum Airport
• Bodrum Museum of Underwater Archaeology (within Bodrum Castle)
• Turgutreis
• Blue Cruise
• Marinas in Turkey
• Gulet
• Foreign purchases of real estate in Turkey
• Turkish Riviera

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Bodrum

• Useful Informatıon About Bodrum Penınsula
• Turkish Republic Municipalities of Bodrum
• Ministry of Culture and Tourism: Bodrum
• Bodrum travel guide from Wikitravel