Marmaris-Ciftlik-Bozukkale-Sogut-Knidos-Bodrum-Marmaris
Two week route, suitable for beginners. A good combination of short daily passages, lush scenery and picturesque coves. Bays and harbors visited are popular with the yachting community. According to weather conditions, we drop anchor in:
This village is now most popular for delicious almond and olive trees, instead of a certain type of oak acorn trees which its name comes from. It is beautiful bay that Participants in the tour boats or yacht cannot pass without stopping, enjoy the fish restaurants. Naked slope of the hills which meets the sea, a beautiful long sandy beach, village houses and pensions amongst the trees along beach, summer houses, a harbor with fishing boats and yachts makes a beautiful buku (bay). You will see a lot of tone of green olives, almond and pine trees, glittering beaches and bays. This is a wonder of nature. This was an important place of Knidos with the harbor and the fertile land at ancient times.
Knidos or Cnidus is an ancient settlement located in Turkey. Although Knidos was originally founded as a Spartan colony on the site of the present town of Datca in the 7th century B.C., its inhabitants relocated it at a later date to its present site at the tip of the Resadiye promontory. It was an ancient Greek city of Caria, part of the Dorian Hexapolis. It was situated on the Datça peninsula, which forms the southern side of the Sinus Ceramicus, now known as Gulf of Gökova. By the fourth century BC, Knidos was located at the site of modern Tekir, opposite Triopion Island.
It was built partly on the mainland and partly on the Island of Triopion or Cape Krio. The debate about it being an island or cape is caused by the fact that in ancient times it was connected to the mainland by a causeway and bridge. Today the connection is formed by a narrow sandy isthmus. By means of the causeway the channel between island and mainland was formed into two harbors, of which the larger, or southern, was further enclosed by two strongly built moles that are still in good part entire.
The inhabitants of ancient Knidos were excellent mariners with reputations that rivaled those of the Phoenicians in their seamanship. Threatened by a Persian invasion in 546 B.C., the Knidians sought to defend themselves by cutting a channel through the neck of the peninsula. They abandoned it, preferring to submit to Persian rule instead. Ancient Knidos was a city known for its artists, philosophers, and engineers and it grew wealthy through the wine trade. Eudoxos, one of the most famous ancient mathematicians and astronomers, Ctesias, the writer on Persian history, was from Knidos as was Sostratos, the architect who designed the lighthouse of Alexandria, one of the seven wonders of the ancient world. Never ones to pick a fight, the Knidians also surrendered to Alexander without a battle and later we see them part of the Kingdom of Pergamon and then, after 129 B.C., of Rome. During Byzantine times Knidos was an insignificant settlement and it was abandoned entirely some time during the 7th century A.D. The city had two harbors: the commercial port was located on the northern side of a promontory while the military port was located on the southern. Knidos was a planned city, built on the Hippodamos grid system. There are four wide streets running parallel to one another east and west that are intersected by a steep street of steps that divides the city into two. West of the first street at the northwestern end of the city was the military port and north of it was the Knidian agora.
The extreme length of the city was little less than a mile, and the whole intramural area is still thickly strewn with architectural remains. The walls, both of the island and on the mainland, can be traced throughout their whole circuit; and in many places, especially round the acropolis, at the northeast corner of the city, they are remarkably perfect. The first Western knowledge of the site was due to the mission of the Dilettante Society in 1812, and the excavations executed by C. T. Newton in 1857-1858.
The agora, the theatre, an odeum, a temple of Dionysus, a temple of the Muses, a temple of Aphrodite and a great number of minor buildings have been identified, and the general plan of the city has been very clearly made out. The most famous statue by Praxiteles, the Aphrodite of Knidos, was made for Cnidus. It has perished, but late copies exist, of which the most faithful is in the Vatican Museums. In a temple enclosure Newton discovered a fine seated statue of Demeter, which he sent back to the British Museum, and about three miles south-east of the city he came upon the ruins of a splendid tomb, and a colossal figure of a lion carved out of one block of Pentelic marble, ten feet in length and six in height, which has been supposed to commemorate the great naval victory, the Battle of Cnidus in which Conon defeated the Lacedaemonians in 394 BC.
Knidos was a city of high antiquity and as a Hellenic city probably of Lacedaemonian colonization. Along with Halicarnassus (present day Bodrum, Turkey) and Kos, and the Rhodian cities of Lindos, Kamiros and Ialyssos it formed the Dorian Hexapolis, which held its confederate assemblies on the Triopian headland, and there celebrated games in honor of Apollo, Poseidon and the nymphs. The city was at first governed by an oligarchic senate, composed of sixty members, and presided over by a magistrate; but, though it is proved by inscriptions that the old names continued to a very late period, the constitution underwent a popular transformation. The situation of the city was favorable for commerce, and the Knidians acquired considerable wealth, and were able to colonize the island of Lipara, and founded a city on Corcyra Nigra in the Adriatic. They ultimately submitted to Cyrus, and from the battle of Eurymedon to the latter part of the Peloponnesian War they were subject to Athens. In their expansion into the region, the Romans easily obtained the allegiance of Knidians, and rewarded them for help given against Antiochus by leaving them the freedom of their city. During the Byzantine period there must still have been a considerable population: for the ruins contain a large number of buildings belonging to the Byzantine style, and Christian sepulchres are common in the neighborhood.
Rescue excavations carried out since 1996 and so far completed two-thirds of the Stoa, the 3rd century, was built by the famous architect Sostratos. 113 meters long and 16 meters wide 5x3.80 m of soft-formed small rooms. All of the rooms open up to the south. Findings from the excavations are on display in the small museum in the city.
The bay also known as “Gerbekse" by locals, is one of the shelters for blue voyage sailboats. Cape extending into the sea and a small island at the entrance protects the bay from the wind and waves. The coast of Gerbekse has couple of restaurants and few wharfs. There are ancient ruins and churches up the hill from the castle. Affected by the beauty of the temple, some new married foreign tourists ask the boat captains to marry them by crew becoming witness. As you climb into the hills of pine and olive trees, the beauty of Gerbekse become more apparent. The further sharp and steep slopes of the Gerbekse bay are still untouched. Gerbekse have season until 15 of November and is close to Meltem winds. Coasts have small gravels, and Bottom of the bay have a good anchor holding property with depth of 5-7 meters. Interesting rock structure of the small island is admirable as much as the subtle beauty of Gerbekse bay.
surrounded by large and small numerous bays, headlands and islands, Bozburun, hides heavens amongst little grassy hills. This land of the fjord is famous for its bays which laps to the Mediterranean Sea. After passing the Karaburun which is the southern tip of the peninsula, Bozukkale is the first bay between the remaining of Degirmenburnu and Kaleburun. The right to land is a wide gulf between the two capes which is surrounded by olive groves and scrub. The surrounding port is called bozukbuku (distorted bay) by the sailors. Bozukkale is one of the preferred sheltered stations against the winds by the cruise boats. Water is very clear in this beautiful bay and it has three restaurants that serve food. The Defensive walls surrounding the hills can be seen by boats, before entering to the bay. The castle walls are still standing supported by bastions. The ruin of Loryma is among surviving ancient cities. Behind the restaurants, another ruins of a castle rises on a hilltop on north of the bay behind restaurants. The city has never lost importance since ancient times because it is well protected with a strategic location. According to historians, the bay hosted navy of Athens in BC i1412. In BC 395, Bay was the rallying point for ships before the naval battle of Cnidus. Some maps called it Oplosike Buku a derived from the Greek word “Hoploteke” which means shipyard. Once the ships were being made and repaired. There are Serçe (Sparrow) and Korsan (Pirate) bays immediately next to, Bozukkale. Serce Bay looks like a deep canyon inserted into the land. It is famous for crystal blue sea and the shipwrecks of the Fatimid dynasty carrying glass to the famous the 11 century Byzantine workshops to be processed. Underwater excavations unearthed the historical value of them. Today they exhibited in the Bodrum Museum. Around 10 BC, Loryma was the center of Rhodes kingdom. There is no adequate information about the historic city. There are nine towers of the castle extending from the rectangular form of walls. The castle, tower and bastions are very well preserved and solid. The name Bozuk (which means disordered) might be given to this castle because one side is missing. The castle against the coast makes us think that it is the defense unit of Rhodes. Because Bozukkale Bay was called Oplosika Buku in some old British naval maps, it is understood that there was a shipyard in the past. Most of the yachts sailing on Aegean Sea use Bozukkale as a stop watching all the yachts in the Aegean. Athens used this harbor because of its geographical situation and shortness of Entrance to the port for Peloponnesian Wars. In 395 BC Athenian commander, Karori used this harbor for his ships before the Cnidus War. Inn 305 BC Antigonos's son Demetrios has chosen this harbor to gather and prepare his ships in this harbor also before attacking Rhodes.
Bodrum is the dreamland of those who answer as “yes” the question “Would you like to go on a holiday after work every day?” Bodrum is an inviting, colorful crowd full of surprises, sometimes a humble wiseacre and a loose wise man, sometimes it is an alone crazy, it is freedom, love; Bodrum is sun, sea and after all it is history… In short Bodrum is everything and everybody. Because everybody has it is own Bodrum here. Some live a modest, peaceful and quiet life, some live crazily madly. Bodrum is a White that bears all colors and also internalizes them. It rains different here and also the sun rise different and sets completely different. Wind blows different, sea smells else. Bodrum is the naughtiest, the haughtiest, the most inert, the most beautiful, the most honest and the most frank child of Nature Mother.
Today, Bodrum is one of the most important centers of trade, art and entertainment as it has been since centuries ago… This coastal town in which traditional and modern life go along hand in hand in an excellent harmony opens it arms for those who want to be acquainted with her and live her, Xanadu Island Bodrum.
Bodrum, The birthplace of the father of history Herodotus foundation dates back 5000 years based on the marks found in Cheese flower Cave. Traces were seen that resident folks Lelegs were living together with traces of Carians. The harbor area was colonized by Dorian Greeks (Carians) as of the 7th century BC. The city later fell under Persian rule. Under the Persians, it was the capital city of the satrapy of Caria. City was later captured by Alexander the Great at the siege of Halicarnassus in 334 BC.
Bodrum is famous for the tomb of Mausolus, the origin of the word mausoleum, built between 353 BC and 350 BC, and one of the seven wonders of the ancient world. The figures on its coins, such as the head of Medusa, Athena or Poseidon, or the trident, support the statement that the mother cities wereTroezen and Argos.[1] The inhabitants appear to have accepted Anthes, a son of Poseidon, as their legendary founder, as mentioned by Strabo, and were proud of the title of Antheadae. The Carian name for Halicarnassus has been tentatively identified with Alosδkarnosδ in inscriptions.
At an early period Halicarnassus was a member of the Doric Hexapolis, which included Kos, Cnidus, Lindos, Kameiros and Ialysus; but it was expelled from the league when one of its citizens, Agasicles, took home the prize tripod which he had won in the Triopian games, instead of dedicating it according to custom to the Triopian Apollo. In the early 5th century Halicarnassus was under the sway of Artemisia I of Caria (also known as Artemesia of Halicarnassus [2]), who made herself famous as a naval commander at the battle of Salamis. She is the first female naval commander in the World. Of Pisindalis, her son and successor, little is known; but Lygdamis, who next attained power, is notorious for having put to death the poet Panyasis and causing Herodotus, possibly the best known Halicarnassian, to leave his native city (c. 457 BC).
Hecatomnus became king of Caria, at that time part of the Persian Empire, ruling from 404 BC to 358 BC and establishing the Hekatomnid dynasty. He left three sons, Mausolus, Idrieus and Pixodarus – all of whom – in their turn, succeeded him in the sovereignty; and two daughters, Artemisia and Ada, who were married to their brothers Mausolus and Idrieus. Mausolus moved his capital from Mylasa to Halicarnassus. His workmen deepened the city's harbor and used the dragged sand to make protecting breakwaters in front of the channel. On land they paved streets and squares, and built houses for ordinary citizens. And on one side of the harbor they built a massive fortified palace for Mausolus, positioned to have clear views out to sea and inland to the hills — places from where enemies could attack. On land, the workmen also built walls and watchtowers, a Greek–style theatre and a temple to Ares — the Greek god of war. Artemisia and Mausolus spent huge amounts of tax money to embellish the city. They commissioned statues, temples and buildings of gleaming marble. When he died in 353 BC, his wife, sister and successor, Artemisia II of Caria, began construction of a magnificent tomb for him and herself on a hill overlooking the city. She died in 351 BC. According to Pliny the Elder the craftsmen continued to work on the tomb after the death of their patron, "considering that it was at once a memorial of his own fame and of the sculptor's art," finishing it in 350 BC. This tomb of Mausolus came to be known as the Mausoleum, one of the seven wonders of the ancient world.
Her brother Idrieus succeeded Artemisia, who was in turn in succeeded by his wife and sister Ada when he died in 344 BC. However, Ada was usurped by her brother Pixodarus in 340 BC. On the death of Pixodarus in 335 BC his son-in-law, a Persian named Orontobates, received the satrapy of Caria from Darius III of Persia. When Alexander the Great entered Caria in 334 BC, Ada, who was in possession of the fortress of Alinda, surrendered the fortress to him. After taking Halicarnassus, Alexander handed back the government of Caria to her; she, in turn, formally adopted Alexander as her son, ensuring that the rule of Caria passed unconditionally to him upon her eventual death. During the siege of Halicarnassus the city was fired by the retreating Persians. As he was not able to reduce the citadel, Alexander was forced to leave it blockaded. The ruins of this citadel and moat are now a tourist attraction in Bodrum. Not long afterwards we find the citizens receiving the present of a gymnasium from Ptolemy, and building in his honor a Stoa or portico. Halicarnassus never recovered altogether from the disasters of the siege, and Cicero describes it as almost deserted. Baroque artist Johann Elias Ridinger depicted the several stages of siege and taking of the place in a huge copper engraving as one of only two known today from his Alexander set. The Christian and later history of the site is continued at Bodrum.
Crusader Knights arrived in 1402 and used the remains of the Mausoleum as a quarry to build the still impressively standing Bodrum Castle (Castle of Saint Peter), has one of the last examples of Crusader architecture in the East. The Knights Hospitaller of Rhodes were given the permission to build it by the Ottoman sultan Mehmed I. In 1522, Suleiman the Magnificent conquered the base of the Crusader knights on the island of Rhodes, who then withdrew to Malta, leaving the Castle of Saint Peter and Bodrum to the Ottoman Empire. Bodrum holds a special place in the hearts of Turkish artists and intellectuals. The Fisherman of Halicarnassus" Cevat Kabaagaçli is as famous as King Mozolus. His writings pulled people to Bodrum and Bodrum romantics now enjoy bohemian atmosphere he have created.