Bodrum Castle and Museum

A guide to Bodrum's must-see landmark

It is hard to ignore Bodrum castle, even if it is harder still to be entirely sure of its full name: The Castle of St Peter the Liberator of the Order of the Knights of the Hospital of St John of Rhodes. The site is set into two main parts - the Bodrum museum of underwater archaeology, and the Bodrum castle of the knights of St John, either of which you can enter though some 'magic gates'. The castle was built by the Hospitaller Knights, using stones from the mausoleum of Helicarnassus - one of the Seven Wonders of the ancient world.

Over the past 600 years it has been used as a military garrison and a prison but today it houses what the director modestly bills as 'one of the finest museums of nautical archaeology in the world'. The museum has won several awards, not because of its exhibits(though these are laudable enough), but because the museum has been set out in an interesting and refreshing way. It concentrates on underwater archaeology, using reconstructed wrecks and lots of salvaged booty. The website can be a little dense, with some sections reading like the more forgettable parts of an Umberto Eco novel with its talk of Cabalists, Knights Templar and John the Baptist. And the gold writing set against a black backdrop is slightly dungeons and dragons. But then again, as the site points out: "Virtual reality cannot recreate the fragrance of the flowers or the gentle caress of the Aegean breeze."

www.bodrum-museum.com

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