Bodrum Castle, where the Underwater Archaeology Museum is also located, welcomes its visitors by keeping its doors open until late hours within the scope of the ‘Night Museology’ application.
The castle, which is the symbol of Bodrum and been on the UNESCO World Heritage Tentative List since 2016, welcomes thousands of local and foreign tourists every year. Also known as the ‘castle of the Knights of St. Jean’, the structure has many towers.
In the Underwater Archaeology Museum, where rare works such as Uluburun Shipwreck, Sparrow Harbour Glass Shipwreck, Eastern Roman Ship, Nefertiti’s Golden Scarab Seal, Golden Goblet and Bronze Marble Eyes are exhibited, the Coin and Jewellery Hall and the Carian Princess Hall can also be visited.
Visitors prefer to visit the castle, which has been serving until 22.00 within the scope of ‘Night Museology’ since 2020, especially at night due to the cool weather.
The castle and its museum was visited by nearly 350,000 local and foreign tourists last year. It has already hosted more than 150,000 people in the first 6 months of this year.
Muğla Provincial Director of Culture and Tourism Hüseyin Toprak told AA correspondent that the exhibitions and exhibition halls were renewed after the restoration works started in 2017 were completed in stages.
Toprak said: “Our Zeki Müren Museum in the district is open until 20.00 and the Mausoleum Museum is open until 18.00. Our excavations continue in Bodrum. Kissebükü excavations and restoration works in Konacık Pedasa continue. In the future, these areas will also be opened to visitors.”
Toprak said: “We received positive reactions from people about this project. Both the ambience of the castle and the view of Bodrum made it seriously attractive. People are both comfortable and cool at night. A museum-orientated trip is being made. At the same time, the panoramic view of Bodrum offers a really nice ambience.”
Hanife Güney stated her family preferred to visit the castle at night to see the calmer and illuminated environment, and that their children also enjoyed the trip. “They did the lighting very well. It was a cooler and more pleasant trip when it got dark,” she added.
