Myndos Gate is one of the two gates built, as part of a 4.3-mile (7 km) fortified wall surrounding the city, by the ruler of Caria, Mausolus, in the 5th century BC. In the vicinity of the Myndos Gate there are towers, a courtyard, and some graves. One of the graves belongs to the Caria queen, Ada and some others belong to the Romans. Some graves have mosaic pavement depicting animals.
The walls were built to defend the city. In order to prevent the enemy siege engines1 reaching to the walls, a ditch was also dug surrounding the south tower from south and west. The ditch is 183 ft (56 m) long, 22 ft (8 m) wide, and 8.2 ft (2.5 m) deep.
According one account, Alexander, the Great lost many soldiers during the siege of the city when the bridge built over the ditch collapsed. In addition to this failure, many soldiers were trampled in front of the gates in the assault.
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
- Siege engines such as catapults, battering rams, and siege towers. ↩︎