In Bodrum, which was once called Halikarnassos, pass through the white houses to reach the beautiful beaches and put your feet in the cold water. Look at the deep blue sea embracing you. Yachts with white sails, luxury ships will pass by, the blue waters will play under your feet and you will relax. Take a cold drink and close your eyes. I will take you on a historical journey while listening to the soft sounds of the waves.

Imagine that you are a soldier in the army of a female ruler named Artemisia in Halicarnassus. Your queen has just lost her husband and she has a tiny son. That's why she rules this Caria city full of beautiful beaches and fertile gardens, where the Carians live. Herodotus speaks highly of her. Because Queen Artemisia is a very brave and very smart woman. The sky is Bodrum blue, the sea is sparkling. You have a few days before the great war. You want to have a good time.

First you swim in the sea in the center of Bodrum. Then you take a tour of Bitez, Ortakent, Akyarlar and Yalikavak. You are not sure if you will ever return to your country. You want to savor it. You are eating Bodrum tangerines. You buy yourself a sturdy and durable leather sandal. You walk among the olive trees you trade and eat pine honey. For lunch, you do not miss to eat radish salad, roasted ivy, roasted hibiscus and squid. You do not know that even after centuries these meals will still be the famous dishes of Bodrum.

You are going to Gumusluk last. You call it Myndos. You pass the stadium and the theatre. You see an island in front of you. You walk on the road that comes up to your knees and you get to the island. There will be many people who pass this way, even later, people will walk through the sea to the island, but of course you don't know that. The people of that future will call this island Rabbit Island or Asar Island centuries later. You come out to the island where there is a tall tower that controls the port. Among the stone buildings there are stalls selling ceramic vases. You drink water from the large water cisterns that supply the island's water. You protect your eyes from the sun with your hand and look around. Would you be upset if you knew that the walls surrounding the island, the big harbor and many stone buildings would collapse and be flooded in the future due to the earthquake? Do not worry, it will happen in the distant future, it will not affect you at all. If you knew that this beautiful island is closed to visitors in the future, I think you would be really upset then.

You return to the castle to your home overlooking the harbor in the center of Bodrum. There is a war you must join. After all, your queen declared war on the Greeks on the side of the Persian king. When you approach today's Athens, at the dawn of the war, the Persian king Xerxes asks all the rulers who joined him for their opinions. All those naval admirals can't say anything to the Persian king out of fear. But your queen is a wise woman. She says let's not have an open sea war. She says the Greeks are superior in naval warfare. Contrary to what other commanders think, the Persian king admires your beautiful queen's intelligence and likes her advice the most.

But war is inevitable. Armies are breaking, ships are sinking. Once you see a Greek ship coming straight towards you. You tell your Queen right away. When Artemisia realizes she has nowhere to run, she tactically puts it on one of her own ships and sinks it. Seeing this, the Greek ship thinks your ship is on its side and leaves you behind. Then you follow and destroy your enemy. Watching how cleverly Artemisia's ship fought, the Persian king says these words that day. “Men behaved like women today, and women behaved like men.”

And Artemisia is referred to as the world's first female naval admiral. These are written by Herodotus of Bodrum, and his book, History, has survived over the centuries. Let's go back to the present and wander the streets of Bodrum. Let's buy a leather Bodrum sandal like our soldier hero and his queen Artemisia wore. Let's continue the history while having an ice cream served in a hot cone.

Interestingly, years later, another Artemisia ruled Bodrum. Second Artemisia, on the other hand, had the famous tomb monument Halicarnassus mausoleum built for her deceased husband, Mausolos. This mausoleum is one of the seven wonders of the world. Artemisia, a great commander, ruled the country alone after her husband. When she died, his brother took the throne and exiled his other sister Ada to Alinda. The city of Alinda is located in the Karpuzlu is located in Aydın today. While Princess Ada was living in this city, the immense conquest of that famous Alexander the Great began. But Princess Ada handed over the city to Iskender, and upon this, Alexander gave her all of Bodrum.

The tomb and resuscitation of this Princess is located in Bodrum Castle.

When I go to Bodrum every summer, I visit Bodrum Castle and especially Princess Ada. Pieces of her treasury are on display alongside his tomb, and bones. Especially the golden crown. Princess Ada is a very lucky woman, because she saw one of the Seven Wonders of the World, met Alexander, and lived in Bodrum. Everyone who comes to Bodrum thinks of settling here.

This tomb, which is one of the seven wonders of the world, now only has its foundation. Because after the Mausoleum was destroyed in the earthquake, the pieces of the tomb were used by the Knights of Saint Jean to build the Bodrum castle in 1402. On the site of Seljuk castle, they built the Bodrum castle, which is now a medieval castle. This coincides with the period when the famous battle of Ankara took place and Timur conquered Anatolia. Even when Cem Sultan rebelled against Beyazıt II, he took refuge in this castle. The life of Cem Sultan, who went from there to Rhodes and then to Rome, is already tragic. Bodrum was conquered only during the reign of Suleiman the Magnificent.

You can watch the view of the marina and the passing ships on the walls of the castle, which is by the sea today. You can admire the white peacocks in its garden and wander through the water wells in rows. As you climb the long stairs, you can visualize the battles of the ancient knights in your imagination. You can visit Princess Ada's tomb, see the shipwrecks in the Underwater Archeology Museum, and wander around the towers.

And while looking at Bodrum's famous white houses from its high walls, imagine that Cem Sultan is reading a beautiful poem in the same place with his ambitions but also his literary personality. Probably his heart remained in Bodrum.