Bodrum, the native homeland of the famous historian Herodotus, is one of Turkey''s most important tourism centers, which attracts attention by virtue of its natural beauty.

We know that the native inhabitants, namely the Lelegians and the Carians, lived in the hills above the Bodrum Peninsula. In fact. although there are very few remnants extant, it has been determined that a number of Lelegian cities such as Termera, Pedesa, Thangela, Syengela. Myndos and Telmissus existed above the peninsula.

In the Iliad. Homer tells us that the Lelegians, who were under the command of Altes, as well as the Carians. under the command of Nartes fought on the side of the Trojans during the Trojan Wars of ca. 1200 B.C. Around 1000 B.C., liiose who came here in the Dorian migrations settled in the vicinity where the fortress stands today, whereas when the local inhabitants came down to the coast, they established the city of Halicarnassos, the remains of which are buried under today''s Bodrum.Halicarnassos was captured by the Lydians in the first half of the 6th century B.C., add the Persians took it by force in 546 B.C. Subsequently, this region was joined with the suzerainty of Sardis.