Bodrum Underwater Archaeology Museum

The Bodrum Museum of Underwater Archaeology, housed within the medieval towers of Bodrum Castle (Castle of St. Peter) in Muğla province, is internationally recognised as one of the world's foremost institutions dedicated to maritime archaeology and the conservation of shipwreck finds from the eastern Mediterranean. Established in 1961 under the auspices of the Institute of Nautical Archaeology and the Turkish Ministry of Culture, the museum developed in parallel with decades of pioneering underwater excavations conducted off the Muğla and Antalya coastlines. The collection's centrepiece is the Uluburun Shipwreck, excavated between 1984 and 1994 from a depth of 44–52 metres near Kaş — at the time of its discovery the oldest Bronze Age shipwreck ever excavated scientifically. The Uluburun wreck, dating to approximately 1300 BCE, carried a cosmopolitan cargo of ten tons of Cypriot copper ingots, tin ingots, Canaanite amphoras, Egyptian gold jewellery and a scarab bearing the cartouche of Nefertiti, Mycenaean pottery, Baltic amber, and Kassite cylinder seals. The museum's Uluburun Hall presents this extraordinary cargo across multiple interconnected rooms. Additional galleries cover the Cape Gelidonya wreck (ca. 1200 BCE, the first Bronze Age shipwreck ever excavated scientifically), the Glass Wreck of Serçe Limanı (11th century CE, carrying over one ton of Islamic glass cullet and complete vessels), and the Byzantine Yassıada wrecks of the 4th and 7th centuries CE. Each major gallery occupies a distinct medieval tower of Bodrum Castle, allowing thematic separation between eras and cargo types. Contextual displays throughout explain excavation methodology, conservation science, and the legal frameworks protecting Turkey's underwater cultural heritage. The museum's collaboration with American and Turkish academic institutions over more than six decades has produced some of the most significant Bronze Age maritime research ever published.