Bodrum, (Ancient Halicarnassus), Turkey
As the Sea Cloud came along side at the pier in Bodrum, the early morning sun was just peaking over the hill to warm the stones in the massive fortification walls of the Castle of St Peter, the great crusader’s fortress that dominates the center of the harbor. In antiquity this was the Halicarnassus, the town where the Carian king, Maussollos, erected his Mausoleum (one of the Seven Wonders of the World) and where Herodotus, the “father of History” was born in 484 BC.
A tour of the many shipwreck exhibits at the Turkish National Museum of Underwater Archaeology located in the castle was the plan for the morning and shortly after breakfast we boarded buses to shuttle us across the town to the gates of this massive fortress. The castle is an exhibit in itself as it is a completely intact 15th century fortress with a double curtain wall surrounding an inner keep. After ascending a steep ramp and passing through not one but six gates and doors we reached the entrance of the central fortress.
A cacophony of bird songs assailed our senses in the lush gardens of the inner courtyard where the voices of numerous hooded crows perched in the flowering jacarandas and pine trees were joined by the racket of peacocks and chickens who strolled amongst the oleanders and flowering prickly pear cactus. We passed through the lower courtyard that contained the original chapel (later converted to a mosque) and a fascinating amphora gallery before starting our climb to the various inner towers, each of which contained an exhibit of a shipwreck that had been excavated and conserved by the Institute of Nautical Archaeology (INA).
Intact glass vessels from an 11th century AD Byzantine wreck were in one darkened hall while the actual hull and bulk cargo of glass and pottery from this wreck were in an adjacent building. Piles of amphora and ancient anchors were attractively landscaped into the lush gardens of the upper reaches of the castle which flanked the path to the hall that contained the remains of a 14th century BC bronze age shipwreck that was found at Ula Burun on the south coast of Turkey. This wreck contained enough copper and tin ingots to produce 11 tons of bronze along with a cargo of ebony, ivory, fragrant resin for incense, ostrich eggs and Egyptian gold cups and jewels that were tribute gifts from the Pharaohs to the court in Mycenae. A full-scale diorama of the wreck helped us understand how ancient ships were constructed, loaded and manned.
Next up was the English tower, which was kitted out as a crusaders lair, complete with medieval weapons, suits of armor, banners and Latin graffiti around the windows. The French and Italian towers occupy the highest points of the castle and these contained exhibits of smaller wrecks, coins and the remains of a Carian princess.
All too soon it was time to return to the ship for a Turkish buffet lunch and an afternoon under sail! Next stop Santorini – the legendary Atlantis!
