Bodrum has experienced the dominance of various civilizations throughout history such as Persians, Macedonians, Byzantines and the Roman Empire. Down through the ages it has suffered from the countless invasions of those coming from the Aegean islands and has been important to all the powers wishing to dominate the Aegean., Aegean.,

     The region boasts such greats as the historian Heredotus, history's first woman admiral Artemisia I, and the just-as-skilled Artemisia II as well as artists like Leachares and Shepas.

A contemporary Bodrum Figure: "Fisherman of Halicarnassus" 

      Cevat Sakir Kabaagacli, the scion of a prominent Ottoman family and Oxford don, was convicted in 1925 of some obscure crime and exiled to Bodrum. Cevat Sakir, who was to become the great raconteur of Turkish literature under the name "Fisherman of Halicarnassus," fell in love with Bodrum and elected to remain there for most of the rest of his life.

     He became the town's grand old man, introduced new fishing techniques, planted trees (the palms lining the quay are his) and above all told fantastic tales of an ancient Aegean civilization and of the passionate, broad-spirited, fatalistic people of the sea. Two generations of Bodrum's youth grew up under his spell.

Bodrum St.Peter's Castle

    The castle's origins date back to the knights of St. John. This group ofexpatriates began in the 11th century with a church and hospital in Jerusalem.   When the knights arrived they instructed their builders to remove all usable materials from the tomb of King Mausolos for the castle construction which began in the 1400's.

    The knights referred to the town as Messy not knowing that they where in ancient Halicarnassus. The fortress became known as the Castle of St. Peter and for over a century the castle served as a stronghold in the knight’s community.

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