Ancient Theatre of Halicarnassus

About this place

These stone tiers are more than seventeen centuries older than Bodrum Castle, yet traffic rolls past a few metres below them as if the theatre were part of the ring road. It was cut into the southern flank of Göktepe hill in the 4th century BC, in the reign of Mausolus, the ruler of Halicarnassus better remembered for his tomb, and the Romans later enlarged it. Estimates put its original capacity at ten thousand or more, with some sources going as high as thirteen thousand; after the 2002 restoration only around 3,100 seats are usable today. The real reason to climb is not the masonry but what you see over it. From the upper rows the harbour, the castle and the island of Karaada sit framed in the water, and on a clear day Greek Kos and the Datça peninsula show on the horizon. You are standing where the ancient townspeople looked down on a port that has not moved since. In the orchestra a small altar to Dionysus survives, where offerings were made before performances, and between some seats are holes that probably held the poles of cloth awnings. Excavation by the Bodrum Museum in 2006 uncovered tunnels and rooms carved into the soft rock behind the seating; they are not open to visitors. Keep expectations honest: the site is small, there is no shade, and the road noise never stops. Twenty to thirty minutes is plenty, and it does not justify a dedicated taxi ride from the hotels in Turgutreis or on the north coast of the peninsula; fold it into a twenty-minute uphill walk from the harbour, or pull over when you are driving past. The steps are tall and uneven, fine for children who walk confidently, hopeless for pushchairs. In July and August go before ten in the morning or in the last hour before closing. Entry is free; the site belongs to the Ministry of Culture and closes on Mondays. The moment the theatre comes back to life is on summer evenings, when the tiers are lit for Bodrum festival concerts and the thirty or so events staged here each year. If your dates line up with a performance, that is the visit worth remembering.