Serce Limani Crown Jewel Glass Wreck

I enter the 7-door castle and pass through the gates under the crusader, lion, and dragon coats of arms of the Knights of St jean. Before I enter the gateway that connects to the inner courtyard with 5 towers, I take in the fragrant smell of the sea from the walls facing the sea and enjoy the panoramic view of Bodrum. As I look at the stone blocks of the Castle, which was built 600 years ago, I remember that it was built with stones removed by the Knights of St Jean from the Mausolus Monument, one of the 7 wonders of antiquity. It is as if the age of the castle goes back to the year 350 BC, when the Mausolus was built. After the passage, I climb a little further from the slope with walls on both sides, and a chapel welcomes me in a lush courtyard. Big Amphorae and big anchors draw my attention. Without lingering too long, I look at the towers surrounding the courtyard around me. The Italian tower, the highest of which is French and next to it, the others are named as English, German and Yılanlı. I enter through a door opposite the chapel, the cool air shudders and a dazzling play of light greets me as I descend down the corridor. I press the shutter button because I am in the hall full of colorful windows and amphorae at the Glass Wreck, whose story I know well and whose documentaries I watched. Right in front of me stands the skeleton of a ship. The lights coming from below revealed the textures and colors of the glass goblets and pitchers as if they had oil lamps in them. In a word, a stunning sight. According to archaeologists, it is the world's oldest and most valuable collection of Islamic glass artifacts. As I pass by the amphorae hanging on the wall, I begin to read his story;

In 1025, A Byzantine ship sailed on a 16-meter that set off from Southern Syria, laden with glass pieces of all kinds and colors, straightening its bow towards the Black Sea Crimea or the lower Danube. It sinks very close to the shore in the Serce harbor area, which is located between Marmaris Kalabak Cape and Degirmen Cape, where there are steep high cliffs in the sea, and settles to the bottom at only 32-35 meters. It had been slept until Prof.George Bass and Bodrum Underwater Archeology Museum rousing up where it lies. Between 1977 and 1979, a companion of the American and Turkish underwater team made thousands of dives and brought the rare glasses back to the surface, piece by piece. Islamic period copper and silver coins, ancient amphorae and glass belonging to the Byzantine and Fatimid states; Glass with cutting, inlay, engraving and molding techniques, and the world's first wooden carved chess and backgammon stamps were very rich and valuable medieval products. All of them have been devotedly put together in 7 years in a way that requires much more effort than a single puzzle and is now in Bodrum Underwater Archeology Museum since 1985.

I leave to explore the other important archaeological artifacts in the castle, the museum of the Fisherman of Halicarnassus, located in the city center, by visiting the shipwrecks and taking a rest in its shady courtyard. It is possible to see Bodrum's sponge fishermen, fishing, stories about the best of real sailors, and models of gulets, tirhandils and boats in the museum, which is located in a 2-storey building in the interior close to the castle and the quay. Cevat Şakir Karaagacli, who lived in exile in Bodrum for a while and got his nickname from Halicarnassus, that is Bodrum, has everything that tells how he went from being an exile to being a basement lover thanks to his works and belongings on display in the special section. On the second floor, the magnificent collection of sea snails, shells, oysters and pina fascinates. This is Bodrum Maritime Museum.

Historian Herodotus hometown, Bodrum, was the capital of the Carian kingdom, and was once an Ionian city with the islands of Kos and Rhodes right next to it. This region, which was owned by the Persians and later Alexander the Great, finally fell into the hands of the Turks in about 1500 years, when the Magnificent Suleyman removed the Knights of St. Jean from Rhodes, Bodrum and its castle.

There are many other things to tell you get lost in Bodrum. It has a rich history, blue of the Aegean,  its white-washed houses, underwater beauties and bays, but this place, as the cradle of civilizations of three or four thousand years, invites us every way.