The castle of Bodrum in Turkey was built by the Saint Jean knights for the honor of St. Peter1 in between 1406 and 1522. It is known with its five towers built by different nations. These are English, French, German, Italian, and Spanish towers. It is one of the most well built castles in the Mediterranean region. It is 591 feet (180 meter) wide 607 feet (185 meter) deep and 156 feet (48m) tall at its tallest point, which is the French tower. Unfortunately, during its construction the knights caused lot of damage to the ancient works of art in the city, especially to the Mausoleum2 of Mausolus.
The castle was handed over to the Ottoman Turks without a fight by the Saint Jean Knights on January 5, 1523 after Rhodes fell. As the borders of the Ottoman Empire expanded it lost its significance. It was converted to a prison in 1895.
During World War3 I it was bombarded by the French Navy. In 1960 it was used as a depot for a museum and in 1964 it was converted to a museum. It is the home of an under water archeology museum.
It is also setup as a botanic garden. Variety of tree and flower types from the Mediterranean Region of Turkey are presented together with their mythological stories.
Sources
- Wikipedia, Mausolus.
- Serdaroğlu, Ümit, Prof. Dr. Measured Drawings and Restoration project.
- Additional Projects and Implementations, Mustafa Tozan, M. Arch General Management, Emre Madran, Assoc. Prof. Dr. Advisor, Nimet Özgönül, Dr. Advisor.
- Kiper, Perihan, H., “Küreselleşme Sürecinde Kentlerin Tarihsel-Kültürel Değerlerinin Korunması – Türkiye- Bodrum Örneği,” Ph. D. Dissertation, T.C. Ankara Üniversitesi Sosyal Bilimler Enstitüsü Kamu Yönetimi ve Siyaset Bilimi (Kent ve Çevre Bilimleri) Anabilim Dalı.
- Turkish Antiquities Department, Ministry of Culture, Turkey.
Notes
- St. Peter, St. Peterium. ↩︎
- The Mausoleum of Mausolus was one of the seven wonders of the world. ↩︎
- It was bombarded on May 26, 1925 during World War I. ↩︎