Mausoleum of Halicarnassus

The tomb built for Mausolus, satrap of Caria, by his sister and widow Artemisia in the 350s BCE stood around forty-five metres high, faced in marble, ringed with columns and topped by a stepped pyramid carrying a chariot group, with sculpture by four of the leading Greek sculptors of the day. It was counted among the seven wonders, and it survived largely intact for some sixteen centuries until earthquakes brought it down; the Knights of St John then quarried the stone to build and repair Bodrum Castle, which is where a good deal of it remains. What is left on the site is the excavated foundation, the burial chamber and drainage channels cut into the rock, some column drums and blocks, and a small covered exhibition with models, casts and an account of the excavations. The best surviving sculpture went to the British Museum in the nineteenth century, which the site notes point out.

What you actually see

• The foundation cutting - the rock-cut platform and burial chamber.
• The scattered blocks - column drums and marble fragments.
• The site exhibition - models, casts and excavation history.
• The castle connection - where the stone ended up, visible below.

When to go

April to June and September to October. Mornings; the site is small, open and offers little shade.

Honest expectations

Very little survives - this is foundations and an explanatory shed, not a monument, and visitors expecting a wonder are usually disappointed. An hour covers it. The best sculpture is in London.

Nearby

Bodrum Castle and the Museum of Underwater Archaeology are down at the harbour; Gümüşlük is west on the peninsula.