Bodrum Castle Facts for Kids

Quick facts for kids Bodrum Castle
Muğla Province in Turkey
The castle from the south-east
Bodrum Castle
Coordinates	37°1′54″N 27°25′46″E / 37.03167°N 27.42944°E / 37.03167; 27.42944

Bodrum Castle (Turkish: Bodrum Kalesi) is an amazing old castle in Bodrum, a port city in southwest Turkey. It was built starting in 1402 by a group called the Knights of St John. They named it the Castle of St. Peter.

This castle was a huge team effort! It has four main towers named after the countries that helped build them: the English, French, German, and Italian towers. The castle's first walls were finished in 1437. Later, in 1523, the powerful Ottoman Empire took over the castle. The chapel inside was even turned into a mosque, and a tall minaret was added.

Bodrum Castle stayed under Ottoman rule for nearly 400 years. After being empty for a while after World War I, it got a new life in the 1960s. Today, it's home to the incredible Museum of Underwater Archaeology. In 2016, it was added to the UNESCO list of important historical sites in Turkey.

History of Bodrum Castle
- 16th Century Changes
- 19th Century and Beyond
Museum of Underwater Archaeology
Images for kids
See also

History of Bodrum Castle

Stained-glass Knights Hospitaller coats of arms in the English Tower.

The Knights Hospitaller were based on the island of Rhodes. They needed a strong fort on the mainland because of the growing Ottoman Sultanate. They found a great spot across from the island of Kos. This spot had been used for forts since ancient times, even by the Seljuks in the 11th century. It might even be where the famous King Mausolos of Caria had his palace!

Building the castle started in 1404. A German knight and architect named Heinrich Schlegelholt led the work. The builders even got a special blessing from the Pope in 1409! They used strong green volcanic stone. They also used marble columns and carvings from the nearby Mausoleum of Halicarnassus to make the castle even stronger.

The first walls were finished in 1437. The chapel was one of the first buildings inside, probably done around 1406. It was later rebuilt in a fancy Gothic style by Spanish knights. You can still see their names on two stones. Workers also dug 14 huge cisterns (tanks) under the castle to collect rainwater. This was a big deal back then!

Each group of knights, called a "tongue", had its own tower. Each tongue was in charge of keeping a part of the castle safe and manned with knights. There were seven gates leading into the castle.

The castle's design was very clever. The paths to the gates twisted and turned. This made it hard for attackers to find cover from arrows, stones, or even hot liquids thrown by the knights. The knights also put hundreds of painted and carved coats of arms above the gates and on the walls. These showed the symbols of grand masters, countries, and individual knights.

The French Tower.

The three-story English Tower was finished in 1413. It had a drawbridge for access. On its western side, you can see an old carving of a lion. That's why it was sometimes called "the Lion Tower." Above the lion, there's the coat of arms of King Henry IV of England.

For over 100 years, St. Peter's Castle was a very important fortress for the Knights. It was a safe place for Christians in Asia Minor.

The castle faced attacks as the Ottoman Empire grew. Sultan Mehmed II attacked in 1453 and again in 1480, but the Knights fought them off. In 1482, Prince Cem Sultan even found safety in the castle after a fight with his brother.

Ottoman banners hanging in the English Tower.

When the Knights decided to make the castle even stronger in 1494, they again used stones from the Mausoleum. They made the walls facing the land much thicker to stand up to powerful cannons. The sea-facing walls were not as thick because the Knights had a strong navy. A new round tower was also built to protect the land side.

16th Century Changes

Between 1505 and 1507, more sculptures from the Mausoleum were added to the castle for decoration. These included carvings of battles between Amazons and Greeks, and even some lions and a leopard.

Philippe Villiers, who ordered the Castle to be fortified.

When Sultan Suleiman planned an attack, the Grand Master, Philippe Villiers de L'Isle-Adam, ordered the castle to be strengthened again. Many more parts of the Mausoleum were broken up and used as building material. By 1522, almost all of the Mausoleum's blocks were gone.

In June 1522, Sultan Suleiman attacked the Knights' main base in Rhodes. The castle of Rhodes fell in December 1522. As part of the surrender, the Knights also had to give up their castles in Kos and Bodrum.

After the Ottomans took over, the castle's chapel was turned into a mosque. A minaret was added, and it was called the Süleymaniye Camii. This minaret was damaged during World War I but was rebuilt in 1997.

19th Century and Beyond

A disused cannon.

In 1846, a British Ambassador got permission to take twelve marble carvings from the castle. Later, in 1856, more stone lions and a leopard were removed. You can still see these items today at the British Museum.

Over the years, Bodrum Castle was used for different things. It was a military base in 1824. In the 19th century, a hamam (public bath) was built inside. In 1895, it became a prison. During World War I, a French warship fired at the castle, damaging the minaret and some towers. After the war, it was empty for about 40 years.

Museum of Underwater Archaeology

Bodrum Castle in 2020.

In 1962, the Turkish Government decided to turn the castle into a museum. This museum would display amazing discoveries from ancient shipwrecks found in the Aegean Sea. Today, it's the Bodrum Museum of Underwater Archaeology. It has a huge collection of ancient glass, bronze, clay, and iron items, especially amphoras (old storage jars). It's the biggest museum of its kind!

Most of its collection comes from underwater digs done since 1960. Here are some of the cool shipwrecks they've explored:

Finike-Gelidonya shipwreck (12th century BC): One of the first underwater digs in Turkey.
Bodrum-Yassiada shipwreck (Byzantine, 7th century AD): A Roman merchant ship with 900 amphoras.
Serçe Limanı Shipwreck (glass, 11th century AD): A collection of Islamic glass items.
Kaṣ-Uluburun shipwreck (14th century BC): This one was incredible! It had 10 tons of copper, 1 ton of tin, 150 glass blocks, and even Egyptian seals and jewelry, including one from Queen Nefertiti!

The old chapel in the castle now shows vases and amphoras from the Mycenaean age (14th to 12th centuries BC) and items from the Bronze Age (around 2500 BC). These amphoras show how they changed over time and what they were used for.

The Italian Tower has a collection of coins and jewelry from many centuries. Another room is all about the tomb of a Carian princess who lived around 360-325 BC. The museum's collection of ancient glass is one of the four largest in the world!

You can also see two reconstructed ancient shipwrecks: the Fatımi ship, which sank in 1077 AD, and the large Uluburun Shipwreck from the 14th century BC.

Inside the castle, there's a beautiful garden with many plants and trees from the Mediterranean region. You might even see colorful peacocks walking around! From the towers, you can see the whole city of Bodrum and the nearby bays.