Bodrum Castle is a Hospitaller fortress on the Aegean coast, one of the best-preserved medieval castles in the Mediterranean. Built from stones of the ancient Mausoleum—one of the Seven Wonders of the World—it combines the history of the Crusaders, antiquity, and modern Turkey.

Knights of St. John

The Order of Hospitallers (Knights of St. John) was founded in Jerusalem in the 11th century to help pilgrims. After the fall of the Crusader states, the knights settled on Rhodes, from where they controlled the eastern Mediterranean.

In 1402, the Hospitallers began building a fortress in Bodrum (t...