Bodrum Halicarnassus Mausoleum

Halicarnassas Mausoleum

Visit A Wonder of the /world on this Archaeologous shore excursions. There are two of the Seven ancient Wonders of the World located in Turkey. Today you will be visiting one of those two Wonders, the Halicarnassus Mausoleum, named after King Mausolus, (377-353 BCE) who started the plans for an epic monument for himself.  He died before it was finished and his wife/sister Artemisia finished the project using the most prominent sculptors and architects of the day.

The finished product was so grand that it was numbered amongst the Seven Wonders of the World and thereafter any and every grand funerary monument built in the world has been called a 'mausoleum'. There is not much left of the original Mausoleum due to the fact that in the early 1400’s the Knights of St John (Hospitaller of Rhodes) enlarged their Castle of St. Peter and used the ready made building materials of the Mausoleum. It was broken into pieces and used for the castle’s walls and they crushed the beautiful marble into lime to use for mortar. So make sure to go see the Castle of St Peter and be looking for the decorative stones from the Mausoleum used to beautify and embellish the castle.

The Mausoleum Museum -- Open 8:00 til 6:30, all days of the week during season (April-October).