Bodrum
Bodrum lies on the site of the important ancient city of Halikarnassos in a little bay (Bodrum Bay) to the southwest coast of Anatolia opposite the Greek island of Kos. Bodrum is accepted as the holiday center having the best nightlife opportunities in Turkey. The name Bodrum may be a corruption of the name of the Castle of St. Peter (Bodrum Castle), built by the Knights of St. John, or alternatively "Bodrum" may refer to the arcading on the west side of the Castle of St. Peter.
Bodrum's principal sight of seeing, the Castle of St. Peter, now known as the Bodrum Castle, with its tall, well-preserved towers, was built by the Knights of St John between 1401 and 1436 on the site of the island of Zephyrion (todays Bodrum), which is now actually joined to the mainland of Bodrum. Ottomans built other buildings within the precincts of the Bodrum castle and it was used as a place of exile in the 19th century. The English Tower of the Bodrum castle, having a sculpted lion on the west wall, is also known as the Lion Tower.
Another must see in Bodrum is the Mausoleion or Mausoleum, which from the time of Augustus became a general term for a large tomb. Bodrum Mausoleum's architect was Pytheos. Under the direction of Satyros the rectangular structure looking like a tower, 46m high, was decorated with marvellous friezes by the celebrated Greek sculptors in Bodrum. Built in 351 BC Bodrum Mausoleum survived in a good condition until the 12th century AD. After that Bodrum Mausoleum was damaged by earthquakes and was then demolished, being finally destroyed in 1552 when the remaining stone was used to strengthen the castle against Ottoman attacks. Dressed stones from Bodrum Mausoleum can still be seen in the Bodrum Castle, the town walls, and at the bottom of an old well in Bodrum. A reconstruction of the Bodrum Mausoleum has started.
The first reliefs recovered from the Bodrum Mausoleum were taken to UK in 1846; in 1863 Sir Charles Fellows positively identified the site of the Bodrum Mausoleum and removed most sculpture from the Bodrum Mausoleum and the Bodrum Castle to the British Museum.