Sights to visit and enjoy
Plan your stay by checking here what the best sights to visit are and how to get there.
Bodrums Underwater Archaeology Museum
The Castle of St Peter (Bodrum Castle) houses the excellent Museum of Underwater Archaelogy which received a special commendation in 1995 as a European Museum of the Year. The museum is not however underwater! The museum exhibits several collections of ancient artifacts including relics retrieved from local shipwrecks.
Many of the items found, tourists can touch and feel and read about them.
Each shipwreck in the museum takes their names from the area that they were found and the items that they were carrying can be seen in the display cabinets.
In the upper courtyard there are two showrooms with marvellous examples of glass from 14th BC to 11th AD most of which were found in the ship wrecks near Yassiada.
One of the richest finds was the wreck at Ulu Burun discovered by a sponge diver Mehmet Cakir. The explorations took 10 years due to the depth of the wreck, the stern being at 45 metres and the bow at 52 metres, although it was only 63 metres from the shore. Many of the artefacts needed to be chiselled out by hand due to the layer of concretion that covered the site. The boat used Greco-Roman techniques of building the shell first and fitting the frame to it. This wreck has been dated back to 14th century BC in the late Bronze Age with a cargo of copper ingots and various objects originating from different parts of ancient world.
The Museum of Underwater Archaeology is perhaps Bodrum's finest attraction.
The combined efforts of local Bodrum sponge divers, the turkish ministry of Culture, the Institute of Nautical Archaeology and the Director and Personnel of the museum have created and continually support the ongoing efforts to preserve and present the past treasures of the deep.
Bodrums own Sandal Maker
Since 1966 the man who makes sandals for the world is surrounded by piles of cardboard cut outs of measurements of feet and leather cut outs and semi finished sandals in his small council provided work shop in Bodrum while he works.
Ali Guven is a youthful looking man of 68 years who produces non perspirant sandals (consisting of a naturally treated leather sole secured to the ankles by strips of leather). He has made many of these shoes for famous people such as Mick Jagger and his family, Bette Midler and many famous Turkish artists.
His first encounter of shoe making started at Mustafas Ustas workshop when he was in grade four. He started work as a trainee shoe maker the same year and has been making shoes ever since then.
With his fame in sandal making and handsome looks it turned him into a phenomenon.
Unfortunately in 2005 he had an operation which meant that most of his work was left, but he returned to pick up from where he left off and continued taking orders in the summer and sending the sandals in winter time to the customers.
Ali Guven is rich in heart but his bank account is empty because he likes to share what he has with others. He has received an award from Mugla City because of his contributions to tourism within the last 25 years and a letter from the USA praising his work.
Ali Guven carries out his work with great passion, the master for sandal making suggests the reason behind his success lies in the originality and non perspirant nature of the naturally treated leather he uses and adds when tanning and actually making the sandals, no machinery or chemicals are used.
One day Ali Guven would like to see a museum for his sandals as he knows that there is a lack of interest by young people to learn the craft and he would like the trade to be recognised and remembered.
Bodrum Town today
Bodrum is a charming and fascinating peninsula with its atmosphere. 30.000 reside in the Bodrum area. The people of Bodrum earn their living by fishing, boat-building, agriculture, weaving and tourism, which has become the most important industry in the last few years.
In recent times Bodrum has become not only a tourist centre but also a visiting place for famous Turkish and foreign artists and also an art centre. The Antique Amphitheatre is one of the famous places for both local artists and foreign ones because of all the entertainment. Concerts are prepared in summer in the open air with thousand of spectators with the panoramic view over the castle and the sea.
The heart of the town is around the harbour, where shops, bars and restaurants jostle together in the narrow streets under the shadow of the St. Peter Castle. The main artery is Cumhurriyet Caddesi (Republic Street), much better known as Bar Street.
Besides shops, bars and restaurants you can always return home with a pair of hand made snugly fit leather sandals in traditional Aegean style.
The Bar Street is always busy by the locals also the tourism from abroad and different parts of Turkey. Along the Bar Street you can always see different souvenirs shops as other touristy destinations abroad, with its different taste and smell also, the mixed music from the different bars.
Since the time of King Mausolos, Bodrum has been an important centre for boat building. Ptolemäus from Egypt had his warships made here in 300 BC.
In April 2006, the new Milas Bodrum airport opened with excellent connections. Scheduled Turkish Airlines and International charter flights are now arriving regularly. The long transfer from Izmir or Dalaman now belongs in the past.
Ephesus
Ephesus is known to be the one of the Ancient Wonders of the World and is the best preserved ancient city in the Eastern Mediterranean. Needless to say Ephesus is visited by many tourists in the years and is even planned in the cruise itinaries for the cruise liners visiting Kusadasi.
Ephesus was established to be a major sea port and was built at the mouth of the Menderes River. It used to be one of the most important commercial centres in its time and has had its fair share of inhabitants such as the Croesus and the Persians, and the influence of the Ionians who created the Anatolian Fertility Goddess Artemis, whose temple the 7th wonder of the world can be seen to this day. When the Romans eventually took the city, Artemis became Diana and Ephesus became the Roman Provincial Capital. The Roman city got larger and its population grew to around 250,000. They were short of nothing a large Library of Celsius, roman baths, gymnasium and the Great theatre seating 25,000 people. The Great Theatre is still used to this very day for concerts and performances.
St John and the Virgin Mary supposedly settled in Ephesus along with St Paul who lived in the City for 3 years and laid the roots for the beginnings of the Christianity belief.Despite the fame of the cult of Diana, Ephesus soon became a sizeable Christian congregation.
Unfortunately despite efforts in saving Ephesus the sea was forced back to Pamucak cutting off the sea supplies and making the city decline. By the 6th century AD when Emperor Justinian was looking to build a basilica for St John he chose Ayasuluk Hill in Selcuk which became the new city centre.