Bodrum Castle and Underwater Archaeology Museum

Bodrum Castle was built by the Knights of St John between 1406 and 1523 on a rocky spit between two harbours, which in antiquity was an island and later became a peninsula. Its plan is a rough square of about 180 by 185 metres. The inner castle has towers named after countries: French, Italian, German, English and the Snake Tower. The French Tower is the tallest at 47.5 metres above sea level.

The approach is dramatic. Visitors pass through seven gates, each with carved coats of arms showing crosses, bands, dragons and lions, and cross a drawbridge over a moat between double walls. Of the 14 cisterns inside the inner castle, six belong to the chapel. Builders used blocks from the ancient Mausoleum of Halicarnassus, and the Ottoman era added a mosque and, after the castle became a prison in the late 19th century, a bath.

Today the castle houses the Underwater Archaeology Museum, which won a special commendation in the European Museum of the Year competition in 1995. It is on Türkiye's UNESCO Tentative List. Some sections of the museum may be closed for restoration, so the castle itself is a reason to come.