Nowadays better known to many as the gateway to Aegean Sea resorts, Bodrum (pop. 198,000) is also a fascinating ancient port city in southern Turkey. Founded around 1,000 BCE as a Greek colony called Halicarnassus (and was the birthplace of among others the famous classical historian Herodotus), it came under Persian rule in 546 BCE, then was conquered by Alexander the Great two centuries later. 

Halicacarnassus eventually came under both Roman, Byzantine, and Ottoman rule, and in the early 15th century Ottoman sultan gave the Christian Knights of St. John (Knights Hospitaller), returning from one of the Crusades, order permission to build a castle on a rocky peninsula jutting out into the harbor to build a castle dedicated to St. Peter. Construction on the Castle of St. Peter (pictured here) started in 1404 and continued into the early 16th century. It´s a jewel in the crown of Bodrum´s historic sites, and makes for a fascinating visit.

Read more in Tripatini contributors Wayne and Judy Bayliff - Photojournalists´ post The Ancient Treasures of Bodrum, Turkey.