Yalikavak hotel, hotel de charme in Yalikavak on Bodrum peninsula for perfect holiday, boutique hotel managed by the owners

Introduction to the history of the Bodrum peninsula and Yalikavak today.

• A brief history of south-west Turkey in pre Hellenistic times

• About Yalikavak

• Turkish Underwater Archaeology - A voyage to antiquity

A brief history of south-west Turkey in pre hellenistic times

Because of its inaccessibility, south-west Turkey more or less developed its culture alone until the arrival of Alexander the Great ( 330 BC). Of great importance were the Carian and the Lycian  nations (not to be confused with Lydians, who lived further north) probably descended from the native population of Anatolia. The Greek writer Herodotus tells us that, according to legend, the Carians came from Crete. "The Carians themselves, however,... maintained that they had always lived on the mainland... Scholars today are much inclined to believe that in this matter the Carians were in the right" ( George E. Bean, Turkey beyond the Maeander).

The Carians had as their capital first Mylasa (Milas) and later, under King Mausolus (died 353 BC) Halikarnassos, nowadays Bodrum. Mausolus is especially renowned because the Mausoleum, named after him, was one of the seven wonders of  the world. The remains were used by the Crusaders of St.John in the 15th Century to build an impressive castle guarding Bodrum harbour. 

The Lycians lived in the beautiful area south-east of Caria with their capital Xanthos,  the ruins of which are very impressive. Although there was much Greek influence, the Lycians developed their own architecture and sculpture, especially the high tombs, the oldest ones dating from 600 BC. Other important Lycian cities were Pinara and  harbour town Patara.

About Yalikavak

Yalikavak  lies at the north-west corner of the Bodrum Peninsula, 17 km or 10 miles from Bodrum and used to be a  fishing and sponge divers village. The permanent inhabitants of Yalikavak number around 6, 800 people. This fertile coastal region is ideal for sailing and all water sports and attracts many foreign yachts to the harbour that once sheltered mainly fishing boats.Yalikavak is renown for superb sunsets and its unspoilt shoreline and sparkling clean sea is one of the few remaining abodes of the endangered “Monachus Monachus” mediterranean seals and therefore a protected area.  

In 2002 Yalikavak Bay was awarded the "Blue Flag" for its clean waters

The gilt head bream and red mullet served in the town’s waterside restaurants are a local speciality.The historic sites such as Sandima, Pasanda (Geriþ), Kandiba and Termil (Dirmil/Gökçebel) attract visitors from all over. Archaeological excavations have established that human habitation in the region began near the end of the second millennium B.C., and artefacts show that the area was inhabited in the Carian, Hellenistic, Roman, Byzantine and Ottoman eras. Yalikavak is famous for the numerous windmills found in the vicinity.The winds that until recently turned the vanes of these working windmills, now fill the sails of boats and windsurfs. Another “typical” feature found in abundance here are domed water cisterns which, in the past, were used in times of drought and are now being adapted for artistic and cultural uses.

Turkish underwater archaeology - A voyage from antiquity

<<Medieval Castle of Bodrum and Museum of underwater Archaeology.

Underwater archaeological explorations started forty years ago at the south-west coats of Turkey. Underwater excavations of ancient shipwrecks off the Turkish coast are revolutionizing our knowledge of the past. A ship that sank around 1025 AD in port Serce near Marmaris gave the world the largest medieval Islamic collection of glass art, the largest collection of Byzantine weapons and tools, the world's oldest dated chess set and the best assemblage of medieval Islamic glazed bowls. A ship that sank around 1300 BC at Uluburun, near Kas, has been called one of the ten most important archaeological discoveries of the twentieth century. Its twenty tons of artifacts, 18.000 catalogues items include the largest collection of Canaanite gold and silver jewelry, the only known gold scarab of Egypt's famed Queen Nefertiti, the oldest known book, tin ingots, glass ingots, the oldest seagoing ship's hull and much more. All this has thrown new light on the Mediterranean marine trade between east and west, on the civilization of ancient Egypt and on the life at Homer's time as he puts in his studies of History, literature, religion, music, trade, technology and more. Up to now eight shipwrecks were excavated by the Institute of Nautical Archaeology (INA) from their base in Bodrum and they are exhibited in Bodrum Museum of Underwater Archaeology. On the other hand, the Marmara sea was also an other area where medieval sea traffic was concentrated. Now Turkish researchers are spreading methodical underwater excavations into new waters like the Marmara Sea. Assoc. Prof. Nergis Gunsenin of Istanbul University and her team are in the process of excavating a 13th century shipwreck at Camalti Burnu. This team has discovered thirteen wrecks around the Marmara Sea archipelagos.