<\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n\nThe Castle of St. Peter was built by the Knights Hospitaller. The Castle of St. Peter, also known as Bodrum Castle, is one of the main attractions of the peninsula. The castle was built by the Knights Hospitaller during the 15th century, and the walls of the fortification contain pieces of the ruins of the Mausoleum, which was used as a source of construction materials.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Castle of Bodrum retains its original design and character of the Knights’ period and reflects Gothic architecture.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It also contains the Bodrum Museum of Underwater Archaeology, a museum established by the Turkish government in 1962 to host the underwater discoveries of ancient shipwrecks in the Aegean Sea. In 2016, the castle was included in the Tentative list of World Heritage Sites in Turkey. The castle has been under renovation since 2017, and only some parts of it are accessible to visitors.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Built in the fourth century BC, the ruins of the Mausoleum at Halicarnassus are also among the main sights in Bodrum. The Mausoleum at Halicarnassus was a tomb designed by Greek architects and built for Mausolus, a satrap of the Persian Empire, and his sister-wife Artemisia II of Caria. The structure was considered one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
By the 12th century CE, the structure had largely been destroyed. Today, the ruins of the tomb continue to attract both domestic and international tourists. It is planned to turn the ruins into an open-air museum.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Besides the Bodrum Museum of Underwater Archaeology, other museums are also located on the peninsula. Zeki M\u00fcren Art Museum is dedicated to Turkish classical musician Zeki M\u00fcren.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
After his death, the house in Bodrum where he lived during the later years of his life was transformed into the Zeki M\u00fcren Art Museum by order of the Ministry of Culture and was opened to the public on June 8, 2000.[28] Bodrum Maritime Museum is another museum dedicated to the classification, exhibition, restoration, conservation, storage, and safekeeping of historical documents, works, and objects that are important to the city’s maritime history.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Bodrum City Museum is a minor museum in the city center that presents the general history of the Bodrum peninsula.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
<\/span>Demographics<\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n\nThe population of the town center of Bodrum was 35,795 in the 2012 census. The surrounding towns and villages had an additional population of 100,522, with a cumulative total of 136,317 inhabitants residing within the district’s borders.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
<\/span>Government<\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n\n