Bodrum Castle

This imposing structure, built by the Knights of St. John in the early 15th century, is the most prominent feature of Bodrum.

The Bodrum Castle (Castle of St. Peter) is located on a small rocky peninsula set between two sheltered bays in Bodrum, on the south-west coast of Anatolia. This peninsula was inhabited and known in the ancient world as Zephyrion and was probably used as a rear base by the Byzantines in the early Middle Ages and then by the Turks. The Castle was built by the Order of St. John of Jerusalem (also called Knights of St.John, Knights Hospitallers, Knights of Rhodes) under the mastership of The Grand Master Philibert de Naillac, at the beginning of 15th century A.D., and ruled by them almost 120 years until the conquest of Rhodes by Suleiman I (Suleiman The Magnificent) in 1522. In Ottoman Period, the Bodrum Castle is used as a small garrison base and in 1895 it was transformed into a prison. During the 1st World War, the castle was bombed on the 26th of May 1915 by a French battleship. This caused great damage to the castle, the prisoners were moved inland and the castle was evacuated. Then the Italians invaded Bodrum and they posted their soldiers at the castle and used it as their headquarters. Following the success of the Turkish War of Independence under the leadership of Mustafa Kemal on the 5th of July 1921, the Italian military forces were dispersed. Between the years 1939-1945 during the 2nd World War, the Castle was yet again used as a military base but was evacuated at the end of the war. Today, the Bodrum Castle is home to the Museum of Underwater Archaeology, which is unique in Turkey, and one of the most significant Underwater Archaeology Museums in the world.

The Bodrum Castle preserves its original plan and character of Knights’ period and represents Gothic architecture. Since The Order of the Knights of St. John was a multinational organization with members from several countries of Europe, each Order had its own tower, each in its own style.

The Castle consists of the French, Spanish (Snake), German, Italian and English Towers. The knights had placed hundreds of painted coats of arms and carved reliefs on the walls above the gates. Two hundred and forty-nine separate designs still remain, including those of grandmasters, castle commandants, countries, and personal coat of arms of knights and religious figures. Among those, the most noticeable one is the coat of arms of King Henry IV of England on the English Tower.

The defences originally consisted of a single curtain wall, but an outer wall reinforced with towers (Carretto and Gatineau Bastions) was added and embrasures were inserted at certain points for cannons at about the middle of the 15th century A.D. The other structures of the Castle are the north moat, large ravelin, harbour battery, harbour tower, forecourt, inner gatehouse, chapel and inner bailey. In the inner castle, wide areas were excavated in the natural rock to form cisterns for collecting rainwater.

In addition to this main character of the Castle, traces of the ancient world can also be seen on the walls because some pieces of the Maussolleion ruins, which were one of the seven wonders of the ancient world, were used as construction materials. There are Ottoman additions like a minaret on the chapel and a Turkish bath (Hamam). With these features, Bodrum Castle presents a multilayered historical and cultural perspective