Bodrum was called Halicarnassus of Caria in ancient times. One of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World, The Mausoleum of Mausolus, was here. As a place where people have lived continuously for thousands of years, Bodrum has an incredibly deep history. Its position in or near so many of the great civilizations and events of ancient history also makes Bodrum an important site for historians. Finding one source of complete historical information on Halicarnassus is apparently impossible, so here is a short info about the Bodrum’s history.
The Father of History, “Herodotus“, was born in Halicarnassus…
The first settlement in Bodrum which left structural evidence behind was on the rocky little island where the Castle of St. Peter now stands (the castle was once completely surrounded by sea ). When the Knights of St. John arrived to build their fortress, they found the ruins of an old castle, now known to have been built by the Dorians roughly around 1100 BC.
The Father of History, “Herodotus “, who lived in the 5th Century BC and was born in Halicarnassus, wrote that theDorians came from the east coast of the Peloponnese ( Troezen). They called their new island as a Zephyria and the settlement Zephyrium.
Historians have little evidence concerning the foundation of mainland Bodrum. The first known mention of it comes from the 7th Century BC. Halicarnassus was one of the six members in the Dorian Confederation of Hexapolis, along with the mainland city of Cnidos, the island of Cos, and three cities on Rhodes.