About The Bodrum - Massage Service Bodrum

History

Ancient era
See also: Halicarnassus
Halicarnassus (Ancient Greek: Ἁλικαρνᾱσσός, romanized: Halikarnassós, or Ἀλικαρνασσός Alikarnassós; Turkish: Halikarnas), was an ancient Greek city at the site of modern Bodrum in Turkey. Halicarnassus was founded by Dorian Greeks, and the figures on its coins, such as the head of Medusa, Athena, Poseidon, and the trident, support the statement that the mother cities were Troezen and Argos.[8] The inhabitants appear to have accepted Anthes, a son of Poseidon, as their legendary founder, as mentioned by Strabo, and were proud of the title Antheadae. The Carian name for Halicarnassus has been tentatively identified with Alosδkarnosδ in inscriptions.

In an early period, Halicarnassus was a member of the Doric Hexapolis, which included Kos, Cnidus, Lindos, Kameiros, and Ialysus; but it was expelled from the league when one of its citizens, Agasicles, took home the prize tripod that he had won in the Triopian games instead of dedicating it according to custom to the Triopian Apollo. In the early 5th century, Halicarnassus was under the sway of Artemisia I of Caria (also known as Artemesia of Halicarnassus[9]), who made herself famous as a naval commander at the battle of Salamis. Little is known of Pisindalis, her son and successor; but Lygdamis, the tyrant of Halicarnassus, who next attained power, is notorious for having the poet Panyasis put to death and forcing Herodotus, possibly the most well-known Halicarnassian, to leave his native city (c. 457 BC).

Persian rule

Surviving substructures and ruins of the Mausoleum, one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World.

Replica model of the Mausoleum at Miniatürk, Istanbul
The city later fell under Persian rule. Under the Persians, it was the capital city of the satrapy of Caria, the region that long afterward constituted its hinterland and of which it was the principal port. Its strategic location ensured that the city enjoyed considerable autonomy. Archaeological evidence from the period, such as the recently discovered Salmakis (Kaplankalesi) Inscription, now in Bodrum Museum of Underwater Archaeology, attests to the particular pride its inhabitants had developed.[11]

Mausolus ruled Caria from here, nominally on behalf of the Persians but practically independently, for much of his reign from 377 to 353 BC. When he died in 353 BC, Artemisia II of Caria, who was both his sister and his widow, employed the ancient Greek architects Satyros, Pythis, and the sculptors Bryaxis, Scopas, Leochares, and Timotheus to build a monument and a tomb for him. The word “mausoleum” derives from the structure of this tomb. It was a temple-like structure decorated with reliefs and statuary on a massive base. Today only the foundations and a few pieces of sculpture remain.

Hellenistic and Roman periods
Alexander the Great laid siege to the city after his arrival in the Carian lands and, together with his ally, Queen Ada of Caria, captured it after fighting in 334 BC. After Alexander’s death, the rule of the city passed to Antigonus I (311 BC), Lysimachus (after 301 BC), and the Ptolemies (281–197 BC) and was briefly an independent kingdom until 129 BC, when it came under Roman rule. A series of earthquakes destroyed much of the city, as well as the great Mausoleum, while repeated pirate attacks from the Mediterranean wreaked further havoc on the area. By the time of the early Christian Byzantine era, when Halicarnassus was an important bishopric, there was little left of the shining city of Mausoluos.

Geography
Climate
Bodrum has a hot summer Mediterranean climate (Csa in the Köppen climate classification[15] and Cshl in the Trewartha climate classification[16]). The average temperature is around 15 °C (59 °F) in winter and 34 °C (93 °F) in summer, with many sunny spells. Summers are very hot and mostly sunny, and winters are mild and humid. Record high is 46.8°C (116.2°F) in July 2017.

Architecture

Traditional white houses in Bodrum.
Traditional Bodrum houses are characterized by their prismatic shapes, simple designs and locally sourced building materials like stone, wood, clay and cane.[48] They also tend to have white dominated exterior walls with some blue parts (doors, windows).[49] The tradition of white-washed walls is associated with the bug and scorpion repellent properties of lime, which is found in white paint. It is also traditionally applied in most hot regions for heat-reflecting properties of white color. Blue is also believed by locals to protect against the malicious effects of envy (similar to the Anatolian belief Nazar, originated in Mesopotamia).[49]

According to Muğla Municipality, in order to acquire a building permit one has to agree to paint the walls of the new building white. Use of any paint other than white on the exterior walls of a building was officially banned by Muğla Governor Temel Koçaklar in 2006.[50] This was implemented to protect the historical fabric and cultural identity of the city.[50]

Events and festivals
Bodrum International Ballet Festival has been held in Bodrum every summer since 2002.[51] Bodrum has also hosted the Bodrum International Biennial since 2014.[52] Bodrum Baroque Music Festival is another, annual, music event held in the city.[53]

Transportation
Airports
There are no civilian airports located in the district’s borders and Milas–Bodrum Airport and Kos Island International Airport are the main airports that serve the city. Milas–Bodrum Airport is located 36 kilometres (22 mi) northeast of Bodrum, with both domestic and international flights.[54] Kos Island International Airport, 70 kilometres (43 mi) to the SW, located in Andimachia, Greece, accessible by boats from Bodrum across a 20 kilometres (12 mi) stretch of the Aegean Sea. Aside from year-round flights to Greek destinations, Kos airport’s traffic is seasonal.

Built in 1987, Bodrum-Imsik Airport once served the city before its closure to commercial flights in the late 90’s. Due to financial and legal problems caused by a landownership dispute, the airport was sold to Presidency of Defense Industries in 1997. It is currently being operated as an air base.[55]

Bus

Two dolmuş near İçmeler, Bodrum.
The main bus station of Bodrum district used to be located in the city center, but this has changed in 2021 when it was moved to a newly-built facility in Torba, around 6 km away from the town to ease traffic jams in the city center during the high season. The old bus station still has the interdistrict buses, but intercity bus services to other locations in Turkey were redirected to the new station. The new station is powered by solar power, and contains 6 electric car charging units, which was described to be a first for a bus terminal in Turkey by the Muğla Mayor Osman Gürün.[56]

Most of the public transportation in the city is based on local shared taxis called “dolmuş”. Each of these privately owned minibuses displays their particular route on signboards behind the windscreens.[57] The word derives from the Turkish for “full” or “stuffed”, as these shared taxis depart from the terminal only when a sufficient number of passengers have boarded.[58] Apart from these minibuses Muğla Municipality also has a scheduled bus service program between towns on the Bodrum peninsula.[59] Public transportation between major towns such as Gümbet, Bitez, Turgutreis and the main bus station is non-stop.[60]

Port
The port has ferries to other nearby Turkish and Greek ports and islands.[54] Bodrum has three large marinas and cruise berths. The first marina, Milta, is located in the center of Bodrum. The second marina is located in Turgutreis, and the third, Palmarina, in Yalikavak.

Wildlife
Maquis shrubland biome, which is the typical vegetation of the Mediterranean climate, is widespread in Bodrum, especially near the coast. Forests cover 61.3% of the district.[61] Conifers such as pines, larches, stone pines, cedars and junipers are the dominant trees in the region.[62] Forested areas are prone to fires and wildfires are common in the district’s history.[63] 95% of forest fires in Turkey are believed to be caused by human activities and there are concerns that forests are deliberately being set on fire to enlarge the city. The ruling party AKP has been criticized in the media for giving building permits to construct new hotels on burnt and deforested areas.

Wild boars and foxes are prevalent in the area, as are other animals such as pygmy cormorants, Dalmatian pelicans and lesser kestrels. The region is also home to the endangered and internationally protected Mediterranean monk seal.

References: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bodrum