Mousollos

When Bodrum still bore the name “Halicarnassus”, the capital of Caria, the city and its peninsula produced a considerable number of prominent personalities whose names continue to be celebrated in history. In later ages others gained admission to this Roll of the Renowned – which is not closed yet. Herodotus Hailed as “Father of History”; traveled extensively and wrote “Histories”. Born ca. 484 B.C. Scylax Navigator and explorer; sailed from the Indus River to the north reaches of the Red Sea. (ca. 510 B.C.) Artemisia I Queen of Caria, member of the war council of Xerxes of Persia; commanded her own naval squadron in the Battle of Salamis (480 B.C.) Mausolus Ruler of Caria; enlarged Halicarnassus, brought in population and surrounded the city with extensive walls. Artemisia II Sister and wife of Mausolus; built the Mausoleum; conquered Rhodes by stratagem. Ada Queen of Caria; deposed by her brother, reinstated by Alexander the Great who became later adopted son. Dionysius Historian, linguist and critic; wrote a 20 volume history of Rome and other works. Neyzen Tevfik Poet, satirist and bete noir of the establishment; reed flute virtuoso. Turgut Reis Known as Dragut to western historians; corsair, then admiral in Ottoman navy, killed in the siege of Malta (1565).

In the shops in the town centre, in shopping malls and in the villages close to Bodrum, we can find almost everything imaginable.  Even if you have come here for just a couple of days, you will see tempting buys at every turn.

 In the Tuesday market held next to the Bodrum bus station you can find tablecloths, curtains, bedspreads and other items made from traditionally woven cloth, as well as great bargains in clothes.

 The fruit and vegetable market on Thursdays and Fridays is a wonderfully colourful scene, a feast for the senses bursting with produce picked that morning by the local people from their fields and orchards.

 Other alternatives include the Oasis Shopping Centre, the Marina Shopping Centre, PortBodrum Yalıkavak Marina Shopping Center and the D-Marin Shopping Centre at Turgutreis where you will find many famous brand-name stores conveniently located together. 

As for jewellery and leather, these take pride of place among shopping opportunities in Bodrum.  There are many retailers of these, both on the main road and also in the town centre.

 A lot of  Jewellery Shops, located at the center of the town, offers a wide range of jewellery.  There are also many choices for sunglasses and watches and you will find shops selling famous brands in central Bodrum and towards the marina

 Leather goods are cheaper to buy in Turkey than in many other countries, and Bodrum has many leather shops which are very popular with visitors. 

 The fine carpets and kilims made in almost every region of Turkey are a source of pride for the country.  The carpets and kilims, hand-woven by girls in the villages around Bodrum are well worth seeing. Agencies arrange tours to these villages where, while sipping ayran (a local yoghurt drink) and eating homemade gözleme ( a kind of pancake) , you can lose yourself in the glorious designs of the carpets and kilims.

 In addition to all these, Bodrum is full of shops big and small, where you can buy all kinds of gifts and souvenirs typical of Bodrum and of Turkey.

Main Shopping Street (Cumhuriyet Caddesi) in Bodrum

So for tourists in search of those three key elements, Bodrum may not be the obvious choice – indeed, you might argue there are far more exciting places to get your ‘Sun, sea and sand’.  But Bodrum has a great deal extra to offer the more discerning traveller.  There’s its unique blend of history, for starters;  archaeological finds and facts, famous people past and present, a lively arts scene and a rich programme of concerts and festivals, not to mention the nightlife and its vast array of bars and discos for you to revel till dawn…

In fact, Bodrum is pretty much unique in Turkey – in a league of its own, different, fun and always in fashion. It wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say that no other town in Turkey is nearly as popular or as vibrant as Bodrum.

As well as Bodrum’s Sun, Sea and Sand, here are just some of the other reasons to make it your number one holiday destination.

Take history – just imagine, the first written record of  past events, or ‘history’ as we know it, was written by Herodotus who came from Bodrum, which was known at the time as Halicarnassus.

Here, you can discover remains dating back as far as 5000 BC.
You can visit the first settlements founded by the Lelegians and developed by the Carians.  At some point, Persian civilization left its mark, and in later years the city resisted an assault by Alexander the Great, its defences barring his entry… One of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World, the ‘Mausoleum’, was built here.  This word has been adopted by many languages around the world, so that wherever a monumental tomb is built, it’s known as a mausoleum.

The first woman admiral in history, the Carian Queen, Artemisia I, is known to have fought in a sea battle alongside the Persian King Xerxes.  According to legend, he praised her courage saying, “Today my men fought like women, and my women fought like men.”

At the Mausoleum Museum, even though there’s not much left of its ancient splendour, you can still see the Mausoleum’s original foundations, together with a few marble columns and friezes . Sadly, the best of the statues and friezes are not here, but on display in the British Museum in London.
Wherever you start excavating in Bodrum you encounter relics of the past. ‘Recycling’ ancient stone has been popular since the Middle Ages when the Knights of St. John (from Rhodes) used stones from the partially destroyed Mausoleum to fortify their castle. But the mighty castle did not prevent Suleiman the Magnificent from defeating the Knights, sending them off to Malta and annexing Bodrum to the growing Ottoman Empire.  Bodrum Castle bears traces of both occupants – the Knights of Rhodes and the Ottomans.

If you feel like going back in time,  go and see a performance in the Ancient Theatre – like Bodrum’s inhabitants did, hundreds of years ago.  What better way to spend an evening than listening to Greek tenor Mario Frangoulis, the new ‘Pavarotti’, performing in these spectacular surroundings?

It won’t take you more than an hour to reach some extraordinary archaeological sites, including the Hekate temple at Lagina, the ‘meeting place of the Gods’ in Labranda or prehistoric cave paintings in the wilderness of the Latmos Mountains.

The three-hour trip to Ephesus, with a pilgrimage to the final home of the Virgin Mary is well worth the effort, too.

Keep one day free to visit Bodrum Castle… Not only is the castle an outstanding building, it houses the internationally-renowned Bodrum Museum of Underwater Archaeology with excellent exhibits including the world’s oldest shipwreck, the ‘Uluburun Wreck’ and the Carian Princess Ada, whose statue greets visitors to the hall of her exhibits.

There are regular ferries which offer day excursions to the nearby Greek islands of Kos and Rhodes – a great way to get a real taste of the Greek way of life.

As well as Sun, Sea and Sand, Bodrum offers a rich cultural heritage in which traditional handicrafts play a major part.  In local villages you can still see carpets being woven – let the village women demonstrate their skill and artistry while you sip some home-made‘ayran’ (a salty yoghurt drink) or try out the local ‘gözleme’ (thin, savoury pancakes).

There are lots of interesting local events to enjoy year-round, including village weddings, camel-wrestling or oil wrestling. Visitors can book a trip to the village of Çomakdağ and attend a traditional wedding – while you enjoy the authentic local food, you can watch as villagers perform wedding dances and the bride and groom go through the traditional wedding rituals and ceremonies.

If scuba diving is your thing, there are great reefs to discover and plenty of qualified diving schools providing equipment and professional guidance.

The remains of ancient buildings that are everywhere are a constant reminder that below the surface of today’s Bodrum lies a town dating far back into the past.  You have to be on the lookout to see these clues to the past, but it’s fascinating when you discover part of an ancient pillar in the wall of an old stone house.  Sadly, the necessary funding and time to uncover these hidden treasures from the past are both in short supply.

But even in Bodrum, as you’ll quickly learn, there are places just waiting to be discovered. Find your own favourite spot in one of the surrounding villages which dot the shores of the  peninsula’s bays.  You’ll be amazed at the variety – while some remain quaint and authentic, others sparkle with luxury and modern amenities.

The town of Turgutreis is developing at breathtaking speed, with almost nothing left of the sleepy fishing village of twenty years ago.  The town takes its name from the Ottoman admiral Turgut Reis, also known as Dragut.  Legends about the famous sailor and his military successes all around the Mediterranean live on, in spite of his final defeat in Malta.  Below his impressive statue there’s a charming park and tea garden.  To sit here with a Turkish coffee and a view of the spectacular sunset is a real pleasure in itself.

Art lovers – Bodrum is the place for you!  There are exhibitions, music and ballet festivals wherever you look – you’ll be spoilt for choice trying to decide how to spend your evenings. Check out local billboards for the lowdown.

Just stick your head out of your all-inclusive hotel and your real Bodrum experience will begin.

If it’s Bodrum you’ve come to visit, the town will quickly reveal its true charm and a wide variety of things to see and do, not just its ‘sun, sea and sand’…

Welcome to Bodrum – Enjoy!

Then as you enjoy a snack or dinner in a sidewalk café or restaurant a throb of music will announce the passage of an open truck full of pretty costumed girls inviting you to the show in Halikarnas Disco, Bodrum’s largest and Europe’s biggest open-air place of entertainment.

As you make your way in the Halikarnas direction you’ll be enticed by the myriad bars along the way, each with its own musical fare, its own attractions – the choice is awesome! At least one or more of such well-known hotspots like Red Lion, Sensi Bar, Rock City or Avlu Bar, BBC or Körfez, or some of the umpteen others will be what you fancy and you’ll find your feet taking you inside! Don’t resist, heed the call and kick up your heels! The Bodrum night is yours!

It’s no secret – and most will agree – that a good part of the glowing spirit of a Bodrum night lies in the imbibing of spirits, and the choice of your tipple is all yours! The beer is quite cheap and very good, but the local bar meisters are also adept at mixing a cool cocktail with whatever are the proper ingredients, or they’ll concoct a novel mix to your order with whiskey, gin, rum or some other of the spirits available in the bar. Mojito seems to be popular these days, and though it’s not as cheap as a beer, neither is it so over the limit that you can’t afford it – may be worth a try.
The Turkish national drink, rakı, may also be up your alley, especially if you like the taste of anisette, but don’t be taken in by its mild passage down the hatch – it’s a time-bomb that packs a mean mule’s punch!

Also not the least among the top billings of a cool Bodrum night is the “dance-on-the-water” Club Catamaran, a giant disco on the hull of a catamaran that takes you out to sea at 2 a.m. for a dancing fling on the waves!
Not the seagoing type? Then let’s give you a clue to a real Bodrum tradition, Hadigari. Nestling below the walls of the Bodrum Castle, Hadigari is the place that fulfils the promise of an unforgettable Bodrum night bathed in the most popular music of the day…

Let’s pause here to play a different tune on a different fiddle, figuratively of course. Let’s switch gears from the brash, bold and raucous to an alternative, less strenuous form of enjoyment.

Peek into the amphitheater in the outer court of the Bodrum Castle and you may yet catch some performance of the Bodrum International Ballet Festival, or perhaps hear the sounds of Stravinsky… Check for more details in our section titled “There’s always  a festival someplace
around Bodrum…” as all of Bodrum’s important cultural activities of this summer season are there.
The Antique Amphitheater is one of our choice artistic venues, a fitting stage for the renowned groups and individual artists who come to perform – even Jethro Tull played here in the past, while Julio Iglesias and Jose Feliciano are this year’s guests. But this summer’s choice is the sparkling, vibrant dancing troupe “Fire of Anatolia” in a show not to be missed, even if it’s SRO!
So where is the craziest, zaniest place on this palpitating, perky peninsula?

It’s Gümbet, hands down!
Gümbet is all the rage with today’s younger generation; it’s the outer space of cool! Beer is cheaper here and Brit or Scot, Welsh or Irish, Aussie, Kiwi or Yank, if you’re of an age that regards the world their oyster you’re bound to find a piece of Gümbet that fits your idea of fun, and your pocket. Mystery and Shamrock are just two of the best known of Gümbet’s bars, and on the seashore you’ll even find karaoke where you can sound off as Dire Straits with “I Want My MTV”

It’s more than likely that you’ve been (or will be) introduced to a ‘Turkish Night” show with the indispensable sinuous, sultry, exotic “Belly Dance”. You will also surely be invited to the dance floor to try your supple-hips-and belly skills opposite the belly-dancer – don’t be shy, join in the fun! At the show’s end the dancer sways by each table in solicitation of a tip and even a small one will be appreciated.

As the night ends you may wish to sit on the shore to greet the sun or, as many Turks do, have tea and a ‘simit’ in a waterfront café. Another Turkish tradition is to end the night with a bowl of tripe soup, a panacea for overindulgence in tipple, much like the custom of onion or tripe soup in Paris! Kırçiçeği in Konacık or Adana 06 in Gümbet are among the favorite venues for tripe soup – try it, it’s a great ‘soberer-upper’!

Once back in your hotel room you may hear the thud of base and drums from the distance, witness that the fun and the frolic has not ended. But you can sleep well and rest, rest up for another one of Bodrum’s intoxicating nights of fun. Tomorrow, and the night after, and on, and on…here the fun goes on forever and ever.

O akşam, Say ve Kopatchinskaja’nın enstrümanlarıyla nasıl özdeşlikleri ve yorumlarıyla nasıl ellerindeki enstrümana nasıl can kattıklarını gördük…

Fazıl Say zaten yenilikçi kişiliğiyle kalıplara sığmazlığıyla biliniyordu ama insanları bu denli kendine bağlayacak kadar çekici ve tutku dolu çaldığı belki bu konsere gelene kadar konseri izleyen çok kişi tarafından bilinmiyordu…

Kopatchinskaja’yı, kemanıyla Mendelsson çalarken solo partilerinde sanki bizleri çigan müziğinin ortasına çeker gibi yorumlarıyla, kemanına bu denli içten bağlı, bu denli samimi birini izleme fırsatı yakaladığımız için ne mutlu bizlere…

Yıllar önce doldurdoğu Gershwin, Fazıl Say (2000) albümünü de ilk dinlediğimde yazmıştım o zaman çıkardıığımız Bodrum Magazin dergimizde, caz müziğini hisseden bir müzisyenden  Gershwin dinlemek bambaşka diye… Bana kalırsa Fazıl Say’ın bir eli Jazz’da ve bunu 2000’de ele aldığı albümde yorumladığı Summertime ve Porgy and Bess’in diğer şarkılarında da  hissetmiştik.

Benim için çok büyük bir sürpriz oldu Fazıl Say’ın o akşam Rhapsody in Blue’yu seslendirmesi.

Ofisimi yıllardır  süsler…benim okul bitirme projemde yaptığım “Rhapsody in blue”.

Yani tutkun olduğum bir bestecidir George Gershwin…

Gerek Mendelson’un keman konçertosu, gerekse Fazıl Say’ın solist olarak katıldığı Rhapsody in Blue ardından  çalınan “Harem’de 1001 gece, 1001 nights at the Harem” isimli parçada da bu kez solist çalgıcılar olarak bir yandan nefeslerimizi kesmiş dinlerken bir yandan da Fazıl Say’ın bestesinin de ne kadar modern, ezgilerimizin bu modern parça içinde nasıl örtüştürüldüğünü görmek  göğsümüzü kabarttı…

Melodi bizi nereye götürecek, ritm nerede hangi armoniyle buluşacak, keman piyano maharetleri nerede noktalanacak diye düşünüp dururken besteci olarak ta Fazıl Say’ı kalbimizin ayrı bir yerlerine koyuverdik o gece, 4500 kişi…

Finalde her şey tam bitti derken bislerle sahneye gelen sanatçıların yaptıkları düetler, solo partisyonlar, Kopatchinskaja’nın kemanıyla ve kendi sesiyle yaptığı çılgınca düet dakikalarca alkışlandı…

Fazıl Say’ın yeni çıkardığı albümünde de dinleme fırsatı bulduğumuz Rondo Alla Turca yada Türk Marşı ve yine Gershwin’in Porgy and Bess Operasından  çok bildik “Summertime” parçası yine herkesi şaşırtıcı birer düzenlemeyle, jazzın büyük etkisi altında dinlendi…

Gece hiç bitmesin, Fazıl Say ve Kopatchinskaja sabaha kadar çalsın diye bekledi tam 4500 kişi…

Ama eminim çok kişi Fazıl Say’ı ve ona tüm dünyada eşlik eden birlikte konserler veren Moldova asıllı  Patricia Kopatchinskaja bir daha asla unutamayacak bir şekilde konser salonundan mutlu ve böyle bir akşama katıldıkları için gururlu olarak ayrıldılar…

D-Marin’e, yaşadıkları, para kazandıkları  yere birşeyler katan  Doğuş Grubu’na binlerce teşekkür etmeliyiz. Çünkü buradan kazanılan paranın da Anadolu’daki müzik liselerine enstrüman olarak döndüğünü biliyoruz. Bizleri değerli kumaşlarla kaplı sandalyelerde konuk ettikleri için, bizlere dört gün boyunca birbirinden değerli müzisyenlere tanıştırdıkları için bu güzel festival içinh sonsuz teşekkürler…

Bodrum’un içinden çektikleri paranın kuruşunu Bodruma göstermeyen market zincirlerinin, dev holdinglerin de Doğuş Grubunu örnek alması hatta ders alması dileğiyle…