Bodrum Underwater Archaeology Museum

The Bodrum Underwater Archaeology Museum is unlike any other in Turkey: it is the country's only museum dedicated to the subject and one of very few in the world. Open since 1964, it shows finds from the 16th century BC to the 16th century AD, most of them raised from Turkish waters since 1960 by teams who often worked alongside the sponge divers of Bodrum.

Each shipwreck has its own hall. The Uluburun wreck of the 14th century BC is often called the most important underwater discovery of the 20th century, a picture of early long-distance sea trade. The Serçe Limanı wreck of about a thousand years ago carried Islamic glass and scrap glass for recycling, while the Tektaş, Bozukkale and Yassıada halls fill in the story of shipbuilding and trade through the ages. The amphora display counts among the largest in the world and the history hall shows how the science began here.

Land finds tell the story of the peninsula. The Müsgebi necropolis has the largest collection of Mycenaean objects in a Turkish museum, and the Princess of Caria hall is another draw. The museum lies inside Bodrum Castle, so the visit also takes in the chapel, the bath and the castle's towers.