A History in the Soul of Stones: Bodrum Castle
- Arda Tunca
- Nov 16
- 9 min read
On the shores of the Aegean’s deep blue waters lies a peninsula where time flows slowly: Bodrum.
For centuries, Bodrum Castle has stood as the symbol of this peninsula, illuminating a history where East meets West, and the Middle Ages converge with the modern era.
The foundations of Bodrum Castle were laid in 1406, and it was expanded throughout the 15th century with the addition of towers built by different nations of the Knights of St. John. The process of construction and fortification continued until 1522, when the castle assumed its magnificent form as we see it today.
Known fully as the Order of the Hospital of St. John of Jerusalem (Ordo Hospitalis Sancti Ioannis Hierosolymitani), or the Knights of Rhodes, the Knights of St. John first emerged in Jerusalem in the 11th century. Initially, they were a brotherhood organized to provide medical care, shelter, and protection to Christian pilgrims visiting the holy sites in and around Jerusalem. Following the Crusades, however, they gradually assumed a military character.
Their headquarters were successively in Jerusalem, then Rhodes, and later Malta. The order’s mission was to defend the eastern frontiers of Christendom against Muslim powers.
The Knights of St. John saw themselves not only as warriors, but also as servants of God and protectors of the sick. They followed a monastic order, and its members were regarded as monks bound by vows. Along with vows of obedience, poverty, and chastity, they lived according to a strict rhythm of prayer. Each member was required to recite the canonical hours, daily prayers said at specific times. The chapel and sacred spaces within the castle served not only as places of worship, but also as gathering sites for collective prayer before and after battle.
To secure the safety of Rhodes, the Knights of St. John built a series of fortresses along the Aegean coast. Bodrum Castle was among the most important strongholds in this defensive line. Owing to its proximity to the knights’ main base on Rhodes, the castle served both as a military outpost and a refuge.
The Reincarnation of Ancient Stones: The Mausoleum of Halicarnassus
A large portion of the stones used in the construction of the castle came from one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World, the Mausoleum of Halicarnassus.
The Mausoleum was built in the 4th century BCE for Mausolos, the powerful local ruler and Satrap of Caria, a province under the Achaemenid Persian Empire. In the Persian administrative system, a satrap was a provincial governor. Yet, Mausolos was more than a governor. He acted as an almost independent sovereign, transforming Halicarnassus (modern Bodrum) into a magnificent capital city that reflected both Persian authority and Hellenic cultural ambition.
His wife and sister, Artemisia II, commissioned the construction of the monumental tomb in memory of Mausolos after his death. The structure was designed by two of the most renowned architects of the time, Satyros and Pythius, while the sculptures were crafted by leading masters of Greek art, Skopas, Bryaxis, Timotheos, and Leochares.
The Mausoleum combined elements of both Greek and Egyptian architecture, with marble columns, elaborate reliefs, and a magnificent quadriga, a four-horse chariot statue crowning its summit. Its grandeur made it one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World.
The word “mausoleum” derives from the name Mausolos. Over time, it came to denote not only his own monumental tomb but all grand burial structures of similar nature.
Today, only the foundations and stone bases of the Mausoleum remain visible in Bodrum. The Mausoleum of Halicarnassus was rediscovered during some of the earliest archaeological excavations ever carried out in the Ottoman Empire in the 19th century.
Between 1856 and 1858, Sir Charles Thomas Newton conducted excavations on behalf of the British Museum. With special permission from the Ottoman government under Sultan Abdülmecid I (r. 1839–1861), Newton transported the sculptures and reliefs found on the site to London. The artifacts were carried aboard Royal Navy ships and are now displayed in the “Mausoleum Room” of the British Museum.
While Sultan Abdülmecid embraced Western art and incorporated it into his court, he also allowed the export of the Mausoleum’s remains to Britain. In the 19th-century Ottoman worldview, “civilization” meant collaboration with the West rather than preservation of heritage. This decision reflected not only a cultural loss, but also the modernization ethos of its time.
At that time, there were no legal restrictions on the export of antiquities. The Ottoman Antiquities Regulation (Âsâr-ı Atîka Nizamnâmesi) was not enacted until 1869. Therefore, Newton’s transfer of the artifacts to London was legally permissible, yet culturally controversial.
A portion of the marble blocks from the Mausoleum was reused in the 15th century by the Knights of St. John in the construction of the walls of Bodrum Castle. For this reason, traces of ancient stone craftsmanship can still be seen in the castle’s fortifications today.
The stones of Bodrum Castle embody a continuum of architectural memory, stretching from the ancient world into the Middle Ages.
Europe Within the Castle
The Order of St. John was a multinational institution. Within the Order, each “langue” (language or national division) represented its own country and was responsible for defending a specific tower or section of the fortress walls. For this reason, each nation built its own tower within Bodrum Castle.
The French Tower was constructed at the castle’s highest point and served as the administrative center. The English Tower stood out for its artillery defense and bore a relief of Saint George, the Christian saint traditionally depicted slaying a dragon, the symbol of evil. This figure represented not only a religious emblem, but also a broader ideal of justice, courage, and faith triumphing over tyranny, an image perfectly aligned with the dual military and spiritual nature of the Order of St. John.
The Italian Tower protected the main entrance, the German Tower guarded the northern walls, and the Spanish Tower, also known as the Snake Tower, drew attention with its symbolic serpent relief in the inner courtyard.
Each tower reflected the architectural style and symbols of its nation, making Bodrum Castle a literal stone-built embodiment of Europe.
The castle was constructed during a period when chivalry in Europe was losing its military power but still retained its ideological prestige. As the feudal system declined and gunpowder weaponry began to dominate warfare, the age of knights waned in Western Europe. Yet, religious–military orders such as the Knights of St. John kept this fading tradition alive in the Eastern Mediterranean.
The castles of Rhodes and Bodrum thus became the final stages of Europe’s chivalric ideal in the Mediterranean world. For that reason, Bodrum Castle was not merely a fortress, but a manifestation of faith, honor, and identity. The coats of arms, carvings of St. George, and the Gothic-style chapel were symbolic expressions of an ideal that was disappearing from European battlefields but being immortalized in stone and prayer on Anatolian shores.
In this sense, Bodrum Castle revived—through architecture and devotion—a vanishing European ideal, turning it into a lasting spiritual and cultural monument.
The Knights of St. John (of Rhodes and Malta) fought in the Battle of Lepanto (1571), a decisive naval confrontation that occurred after the Ottoman conquest of Cyprus. The Holy League, organized by Pope Pius V, brought together the fleets of Spain, Venice, the Papal States, Malta, and Genoa. The Ottoman navy suffered a crushing defeat, ending its aura of invincibility and marking the beginning of the empire’s period of stagnation.
At that same battle, Miguel de Cervantes, serving as an infantryman in the Spanish Royal Navy, was wounded by cannon fire in his left hand, leaving it permanently paralyzed. Known thereafter as “El Manco de Lepanto” (“the maimed man of Lepanto”), Cervantes would later immortalize the decline of chivalry in his masterpiece, Don Quixote. In 1571, while the Knights of St. John were waging the last heroic crusade against the Ottomans, Cervantes was already envisioning the end of the knightly ideal.
Thus, Bodrum Castle stands as both the cultural summit and the intellectual sunset of the chivalric legacy it represents.
From Chapel to Mosque: The Castle of Prayers
During the era of the Knights, a small chapel was built at the center of the castle. It is believed to have been constructed between 1412 and 1437, as part of the fortress’s completion phase. Designed in Gothic style, the chapel was dedicated to St. Peter, one of the first apostles of Christianity and regarded as the first pope in Catholic tradition. Hence, throughout history, the fortress was also known as the “Castle of St. Peter.”
After the Ottoman conquest in 1523, the chapel was converted into a mosque, and a minaret was added to the structure. The castle thus continued its existence, transforming its cultural identity while preserving its architectural essence.
Ottoman Sieges and the Knights’ Defense
During the 15th and 16th centuries, Bodrum Castle became a strategic target within the Ottoman Empire’s policy of asserting dominance over the Aegean and Eastern Mediterranean. The empire’s primary goal in the region was to neutralize the Rhodes-based naval power of the Knights of St. John and to secure the safety of maritime trade routes.
During the reign of Sultan Mehmed II (1451–1481), the Ottomans first targeted Bodrum Castle in the late 1470s. Competing with Venice and the Knights of Rhodes, Mehmed launched attacks on Bodrum as part of preparations for a Rhodes campaign. Around 1479–1480, the Ottoman fleet bombarded the castle from the sea, but the Knights’ fortifications and artillery skill repelled the assault.
In 1480, as the Ottomans besieged Rhodes, Bodrum Castle served as a crucial forward base for logistical and communication support. When the siege failed, the Knights reinforced their Anatolian stronghold.
Under Bayezid II (1481–1512), the Ottomans continued Mehmed’s Aegean policy. During the Ottoman–Venetian Wars (1499–1503), the Knights allied with Venice and attacked Ottoman ships. The Ottoman navy retaliated by bombarding Bodrum, though a full siege never took place. During this time, the Knights strengthened the castle, especially the French and English towers.
The final Ottoman conquest came during the Rhodes campaign of 1522, led by Suleiman the Magnificent (1520–1566). After a six-month siege, Rhodes surrendered on 20 December 1522, isolating other Knight strongholds like Kos, Leros, and Bodrum. In early 1523, recognizing resistance as futile, the Bodrum garrison surrendered peacefully. The castle was spared destruction. The Ottomans installed their own garrison and converted the chapel into a mosque.
After Suleiman’s reign, the castle functioned as an Ottoman outpost and customs station, overseeing maritime routes.
By the late 19th century, Bodrum Castle had lost its military purpose. In 1895, it was converted into a prison, part of a broader Ottoman practice of reusing fortresses for detention. For roughly 60 years (1895–1959), it housed deserters, convicts, bandits, and political dissidents. It became known locally as “The Castle Dungeon.”
Among those who crossed paths with the castle was Cevat Şakir Kabaağaçlı (the Fisherman of Halicarnassus). Though not imprisoned, he was exiled to Bodrum in 1925 under the Independence Tribunal’s ruling. During his exile, he befriended prisoners and drew inspiration from their resilience and stories. His works reflect both the castle’s spirit and the freedom of the Aegean.
In 1959, the prison closed. The castle briefly served as a gendarmerie depot, before being transferred to the Ministry of Culture in 1964. After restoration, it reopened in 1966 as the Bodrum Museum of Underwater Archaeology.
During World War I, on 26 May 1915, the castle suffered severe damage from the bombardment of a French warship, which destroyed its minaret and parts of several towers.
Legacy to Eternity
In 2016, Bodrum Castle was inscribed on UNESCO’s Tentative World Heritage List, following an application by the Turkish Ministry of Culture and Tourism. The site stands as a global cultural landmark.
Today, Bodrum Castle unites the stones of the ancient world, the Knights of the Middle Ages, and the legacy of the Ottoman era, an architectural dialogue between civilizations and centuries.
Bodrum Castle is a summary carved in stone of that part of human history which cradled civilizations.
Listen to the sound of the sea beneath its towers. That sound is a greeting from Homer’s wine-dark sea.
Touch gently the stones upon its walls. That touch is a gift from Mausolos.
Let your eyes wander along the towers. Those gazes are the echoes of a cultural heritage waving from every corner of Europe.
And as you breathe within the castle’s walls, feel that every breath is Herodotus, is Hippocrates waving from across the shore (Kos), is the journey from Antiquity to the Middle Ages, is the whisper of prayers rising through centuries from chapel to mosque.
When you step outside the castle, think. That thought tells you what you possess, a heritage of culture that you must hold onto with care, a responsibility, a consciousness of history resting upon your shoulders.