Bodrum Market:
Just a few minutes from the Castle, Bodrum Market is a maze of shady streets and a great place to get out of the sun. You can buy all kinds of presents: colorful lanterns, silk scarves, leather goods, and blue charms to ward off the evil eye. The market stays open until midnight, and there are restaurants and coffee shops inside.
The Mausoleum – 7th Wonder of the Ancient World:
After shopping, it’s time for some culture. Today there is not so much left of the Mausoleum, it must have been an incredible sight.
It was built as a tribute to Mausolus, the ruler of Halicarnassus by his wife Artemisia when he died in 353 BC. She vowed to create the most impressive tomb in the world.
The building became one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World and made the word “mausoleum” famous. The original tomb was destroyed by the Crusaders in the 13th century and rediscovered by the archaeologist Charles Thomas Newton in 1846.
You can wander freely around the grounds and admire the stone columns. A couple of the original statues are located in the British Museum, London. There are often cats relaxing amongst the ruins – you’ll see a lot of them in Bodrum. On the grounds, there’s a hidden tunnel that gets narrower as you go on.
