Bodrum Castle
Bodrum Castle (Turkish: Bodrum Kalesi), formerly the Castle of St. Peter, is located in southwest Turkey in the port city of Bodrum (37°1′54″N 27°25′46″E / 37.03167°N 27.42944°E), was built from 1402 onwards, by the Knights Hospitaller as the Castle of St. Peter or Petronium. The castle was completed in 1522. It was used as a jail in 19th century. There are 5 towers of Bodrum Castle.
History[change | change source]
The headquarters of the Knights Hospitaller were on the island of Rhodes. In 1402 their fortifications at İzmir fell to the Mongols under Tamerlane.[1] Threatened by an invasion of the Seljuks they built the castle at Bodrum.[1] Its location was the site of a fortification during the Doric Greek period. There was also a small Seljuk castle in the 11th century. The same promontory is also the probable site of the palace of Mausolos.[2] He was the king of Caria.[2] The construction of the castle began in 1404. It was fully fortified by 1460.[3] Bodrum came under its final siege in 1522. At the time it was still strong enough to send men to Rhodes.[3] After Rhodes fell, the castle surrendered.[3]
Museum of Underwater Archaeology[change | change source]
The Museum of Underwater Archaeology is housed inside the castle.[4] One of its displays is one of the world's oldest ships believed to come from the 6th century.[4] Another is called the glass shipwreck due to the large number of bottles it was carrying.[4]
Bibliography[change | change source]
Bodream, Jean-Pierre Thiollet, Anagramme Ed., 2010.ISBN 978 2 35035 279 4
References[change | change source]
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 David Nicolle, Knight Hospitaller (Oxford: Osprey Military, 2001): 1306-1565 (), p. 53
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 Trevor Bryce, The Routledge Handbook of the Peoples and Places of Ancient Western Asia (Oxford; New York: Routledge, 2009), p. 278
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 Archaeology and Architecture of the Military Orders: New Studies, eds. Christer Carlsson; Mathias Piana (Farnham, Surrey; Burlington, VT: Ashgate Publishing Limited, 2014), p. 59
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 Samantha Lafferty, Turkey's Aegean Coast: Ismir, Ephesus, Bodrum, Pergamon, Kusadasi & Beyond (Edison, NJ: Hunter Publishing, 2008), p. 280
Other websites[change | change source]
