Halicarnassus, Bodrum, Ancient City, walls, palaces, theaters, temples
The ancient city of Bodrum (Halicarnassos, Halicarnassus) is thought to have been founded around 1,000 BC by Dorian settlers from Greece. Later the city became part of the Hexapolic Union, referred to as the Dorian league. Based on Herodotus, however, it was expelled when a Halicarnassan contestant in a sporting contest insisted on keeping the trophy he had been awarded, instead of dedicating it to God Apollo.
The town was captured by the Lydians in the first half of the 6th century BC and then by the Persians in 546 BC after which it was ruled by the Satrapy of Saird. In 386 BC, the Persians took complete control of the Carian region (southwest Anatolia).
Then in 377 BC Mausolos, the most famous of the Carian satrapies, took charge of the region. He ordered the construction of many cities and moved his capital from Milas to Halikarnassos. Mausolos enlarged his new capital by getting people from other cities in the area and constructing new walls, palaces, theaters and temples.
However, the most important building in the city is/was the monumental tomb constructed for him by his wife, Artemisia II, and from which we get the word ‘mausoluem’. Construction lasted five-years and at the time of its completion in 340 BC, it ranked one of the Seven Wonders of the World.
After the rule of Mausolos and his family, in 334 BC, Halicarnassos was conquered by Alexander the Great which later became a naval base for the Lagos Dynasty of Egypt. In 192 BC, the city became a Roman colony, and in 88 BC was briefly ruled by the Pontus Kingdom.
Halicarnassos fell to the Seljuk Turks in 1071 AD, and it was with the permission of Sultan Celebi Mehmet that the Knights of Rhodes were able to construct Bodrum Castle – the Castle of St. Peter. The castle, with its English, French and German towers is today the symbol of the town.
The town came under Ottoman rule in 1522 AD when Suleyman the Magnificent captured Rhodes and forced the knights to move to Malta. Named ‘Petrion’ after the Castle of St. Peter, this later became in Turkish ‘Bodrum’, the name by which the town is known today.
The Mausoleum is Bodrums oldest antiquity and was built by Artemisia II in honour of her husband King Mausolos ( full story). It became one of the wonders of the ancient world, Mausoleum still is the general term for a large tomb. The entire structure stood at over 50 meters in height. The first reliefs from the Mausoleum (full story) reached the British Museum in London in 1846, such as frescos and other objects.
Tags: Alexander the Great, Ancient City, Artemisia II, bodrum, God Apollo, Halicarnassus, Mausoleum Of Halicarnassus, palaces, temples, theaters, walls