Ancient Myndos (Gümüşlük)

Ancient City

At the westernmost tip of the Bodrum peninsula in Gümüşlük — an ancient port city partly submerged beneath the sea, famed for the shallow crossing to Rabbit Island and its sunsets.

The Gümüşlük district at the westernmost tip of the Bodrum peninsula sits atop the ancient city of Myndos. With origins reaching back to the Lelegians — among the oldest peoples of Anatolia — the settlement was refounded as a planned port city in the 4th century BC by Mausolus, satrap of Caria. In 334 BC, during Alexander the Great's siege of Halicarnassus, Myndos too entered history through its strategic importance.

Myndos's most striking feature is that part of its walls and buildings lie submerged, having sunk beneath a rising sea over the centuries; swimming in the clear shallows, you can still make out the ancient masonry. A stone path just knee-deep in water leads on foot to Tavşan Adası (Rabbit Island) at the mouth of the bay — a view that has become the emblem of the area.

Protected as a conservation site, Gümüşlük has been spared from over-development and keeps the calm fabric of a fishing village, its shore lined with seafood restaurants where the boats come in. Renowned for one of Turkey's most beautiful sunsets and its serene atmosphere, it makes an ideal day trip from our hotel.