The Myndos Gate.
and the history of the ancient city wall of Halikarnassos.

The Myndos gate is located by the old Gumbet road, near the Gumbet junction, next to the Turkish cemetery at the western exit of the town.

This project, which was made possible by the support of Ericsson and Turkcell, aims to restore the ancient city wall of Bodrum, known in antiquity as Halikarnassos, with particular attention to Myndos Gate and the Ottoman Tower, landscaping and lighting has made the walls accesible to the public. Restoration is an important step in appreciating an preserving the heritage of this important historical site.

Included in this project were 7 km long city walls of Bodrum, The Myndos Gate and The Ottoman Tower west of Bodrum Harbour. The first phase of the project started on 15 July 1998 with archaeological excavations and cleaning process around north and south towers of Myndos Gate.
During the excavations, many stone blocks were found, marked and stored for future placements. Vaulted tombs from the Hellenistic and Roman periods are found in the vicinity. The actual burial chambers of these tombs, almost all opened by Newton in the last century, are under the vaulted sections. Terracota sarcophagi were found in the tombs. The ditches that played an important role against the siege of Alexander the Great were marked and taken under protection.

The first phase has successfully been completed in June 1999 and the second phase that includes the restoration of the rest of the walls and the tower from Ottoman Era will commence in the very near future.

The city wall of ancient Halikarnassos dates from 364 B.C. The 7 km long city wall surrounds the town from the west side of the harbor to Goktepe. Castles at Salmakis to the west and Zephyrion to the east mark the junction of the city wall and the harbor. Although no traces remain of Mylasa Gate, which opened to the east, large portions of Myndos Gate survived intact. Myndos Gate was constructed of two monumental towers at either side

Built on the valley, the western part of the city wall was fortified with towers, these measuring approximately 7 x 8.5 meters at the base. One of the towers of the Myndus gate has come down to the present day in almost its original height. The gate got its name from the antique city of Myndus, located on the extremity of the peninsula. Today it is called Dikdiri.

Arrianus, who has given a detailed description of Alexander's siege of the town mentions that the gate was a Tripillion (three-towered). Of the three towers, built with rectangular blocks of stones the one which once stood in the center has cornpletely vanished. Arrianus also writes about the existence of a moat, 15 meters wide and 8 meters deep, in front of gate. Alexander, arriving at Halicarnassus in the fall of 334 B.C., set up his headquarters at the spot called Yokubai today. His first assault was upon the Mylasa gate of which no trace remains. The attack was repulsed with difficulty by the satrap Oron-tobates and Memnon of Rhodes. A few days later Alexander, with part of his forces, atacked the Myndus gate but was again unsuccessful. He then constructed a wooden bridge over the moat and renewed the attack on the city. This time, the Macedonians made use of siege towers. The Halicarnassians sallied out and were able to burn down one of the towers and a hand to hand fight followed. The wooden bridge, unable to carry the weight of the dead, collapsed, thus causing the death of still more soldiers from both sides. The fight turned in favour of the Macedonians. The city panicked, and closing the gates too early, caused the death of many of their fellow men who got trapped outside. Having suffered heavy casualties, Orontobates and Memnon retreated to the two inner castles on the island and Salmacis, while sending some of their soldiers on ships to Cos. Alexander ordered the city walls and the city itself to be torn down, with the exception of the palace and the Maussolleion. Not waiting for the surrender of the two castles, he left a force of 3000 infantry and 200 cavalry under the command of Ptolemaios, and marched on to Phrygia.

Although being short of water, the Bodrum peninsula has been inhabited throughout the centuries. Houses of mountain villages along the Bodrum - TurgutReis highway look like pieces of the traditional Turkish white cheese. The white-washed houses of Bodrum and the surroundings, rising side by side with their flat roofs and beautifully proportioned windows, are reflections of the Mediterranean architecture. Garden walls facing narrow streets are decorated with flowers in a multitude of colours.

Bodrum houses are divided into three main types: The "Musandira", "Chios" and the "Tower" house. Of these, the tower-house is the oldest type. In Bodrum, any house which might resemble a tower is called a tower-house however, only 13 original tower-houses remain today. Tower-houses, which were built for reasons of defence, have square or almost square ground plans. The entrance of the house, which is reached by going up a wooden staircase, opens on the first floor. In days of the past, it is said, these houses were entered by bridges. A good example for the tower-house can be seen in the village of Ortakent. The toilet is built outside, ad-joining the house. The ground floor is used as a stable and the middle and top floors are reached with a wooden stair-case. Stylized embreasures can be seen built on the roofs of Ortakent. The toilet is built outside, adjoining the house.
Chios-type houses have rectangular plans. A room is located on each side of the entrance, which in general is on the eastern fasade. The fireplace is built in one of these rooms. The toilet, kitchen and waterwell are found in the garden of the house. This is a good example for the life style which is concentrated on out-door-living because of the climate.

The Musandira-type is the house built by those who cultivate the land. The entrance to the house is on the long fasade. The fireplace inside is built on the shod wall. This type of house has two sections:
The lower and the upper house. The living area, called "musandira" is reached with a ladder situated next to the entrance of the lower floor, which is used for storage purposes. Also, in these houses an apron floor is built inside the upper house.

Water cisterns (gumbets), scattered all over the area, supply the water demand of the region. The cisterns which look like on the whole, consist of two sections: The domed roof and the part where the rain water, entering from the holes at the base of the dome, collects.

Strabo mentions the existence of eight Lelegian cities on the peninsula. These were: Syangela, Pedasa, Side, Madhasa, Uranium, Telmissus, Termera and Myn-dus, Except for Myndus and Syangela, which were located on the opposite extremities of the peninsula, the inhabitants of the other cities were forced to live in Halicamassos during the reign of Maussollos. The actual Lelegian city of Myndus is Bozdag, 3 kilometres southeast of this village.
Outside the wall, to the southwest of the city, can be seen a few rows of stones, these being the only remains of the Athena temple.
Around the VI. and V. centuries B.C. Pedasa was one of the major cities of the region, but later lost all its importance.

Located on the west side of Bodrum, this is one of the two entrances of the ancient Halicarnassos. It was part of the towns wall.
The gate is named after Myndos because it is facing the old place Myndos (Now Gümüslük). The regional name is now 'Diktiri' or 'Dikduru', which means standing straight or upright, because it has survived more than 2.500 years.

According to Arrianus, who was describing this gate and and the stage of siege of Alexander the Great in 334, this gate had originally three towers (that's why it was described as 'Tripollion'). It was also mentioned that in front of the gate was a ditch of 8 meters depth and 15 meters long. The middle part of the gate is destroyed now totally but ruins from the two other parts are still existing and made from huge and heavy square stones.

Tombs were found here and opened by Newton in the last century. They dated back to Hellenistic and Roman times and were made from burned clay.
When Alexander the Great in the autumn of 334 BC came to Halikarnassos, he was having his headquater somewhere around here. His first attack was towards the Milas gate, which is not more existing nowadays, but he could'nt make it. On the Halicarnassus side were fighting the Persian generals Oronbates and Memnon from Rhodos. After a couple of days he was trying it with the Myndos gate, again there was a lot of resistance. Then he was building a wooden bridge over the 8 m. ditch, packed some of his Makedonian soldiers in wooden towers and carried them close to the gate, but Halicarnassus people came out and tried to burn those towers and started fighting, but the bridge collapsed after a while and there was a big panic on both side. Despite there were many of their own warriors outside and killed, the gate was closed and Memnon and Oronbates went to the castle and the harbour and sailed to Kos.
Alexander the Great was conquering the town then and destroying the place all over, just the mausoleum he didn't touch, after that he was going southwards to Phrygia.