St Peters Castle
St Peters castle - Bodrum
The most prominent feature of Bodrum must be the Castle of St. Peter. Whether entering the town by land or sea, one cannot help but be struck by the Castle's sturdy presence. One of the world's best preserved monuments from medieval times, it stands as a solid testament to the Bodrum area as a place worth defending.
The Castle's origins go back to the Knights of St. John, a group of expatriates who drew their ranks from Europe. This "Order of the Knights Hospitallers of St. John of Jerusalem" began in the Eleventh Century with a church and hospital set up for pilgrims in Jerusalem. The hospital operated under the strict code that care be denied to no one, although those who did not belong to the Catholic faith were confined to a separate ward.
The order began with solely religious powers and functions, but the Crusades and other political events forced it into military pursuits. The Christians beliefs of the order took on a fanatical nature, and the Knights thought of themselves as soldiers of Christ and defenders of the Holy Places of Jerusalem. The Order enjoyed numerous battle successes during the Crusades, gaining many rich donations and Papal favours in the process.
The Knights were composed of seven different Languages or Tongues, so called because of language differences. They came from France, Italy, Spain, England, Germany and Provence and Auvergne (both now provinces of France). Each of these pious Catholic groups operated under the leadership of a knight of their own country.
The Order classified its members as either Knights, Serving Brothers or Chaplains, all under the command of the Grand Master (who was elected for life). The Knights were all of noble birth and served the Order without pay. At their deaths they routinely left all their possessions to the Order.
In 1309 the Knights formed their own community and government headquarters on the island of Rhodes. This was an ideal base for operations because of its position between the Aegean and Mediterranean Seas.
The Order did not require the presence of each knight at all times, and some spent time in Europe at their estates (many of them were wealthy) or on duty at various hospitals along the pilgrim routes. However, if they were needed to defend the island headquarters, they were required to return as soon as possible.
fter erecting a castle on the island of Cos, the Knights needed a stronghold on the mainland of Asia Minor. In 1374 they acquired Symrna (where the city of Izmir now stands), which a league of Christian powers had conquered earlier from the Seljuks and built a castle there. The Mongol leader Tamerlane had his hordes destroy this edifice in 1402, however, starting off a century-long struggle between the Knights and the Ottoman Turks.
The search for a new site led the Knights to a small island set between two sheltered bays, (water once completely surrounded the Castle). Ruins showed evidence of an ancient castle, now known to have been erected during Doric Times (1110 BC), as well as a small Turkish castle from the 11th CAD. Just 1 km to the north stood one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World, the Tomb of King Mausolus (now called The Mausoleum) reduced to ruins by an earthquake.
In an area where successive groups of people have lived for thousands of years, each new group tends to use building materials left behind by previous inhabitants. The careful observer walking through the backstreets of Bodrum will see many old houses with ancient blocks and column pieces embedded in their walls.
Not ones to waste useful building materials themselves, the Knights instructed their builders to remove any usable portions from the Tomb of King Mausolus when Castle construction began in 1402. Much of the Mausoleum was built with a green colored rock, pieces of which now adorn the Castle walls. Visitors can also see column bases in the sides of several towers. In 1846, Sir Stratford Canning, British Ambassador to Istanbul, took from the Castle 12 marble reliefs depicting the battle between the Greek and the Amazons (which the Knights took from the Mausoleum) and sent them to London.
