The Myndos Gate... Hard to imagine, Alexander the Great may have stood on this very spot, directing a battle........ The ancient city walls of Halikarnassos (modern day Bodrum) date from 364 B.C. The 7 km long city wall surrounds the town from the west side of the harbor to Goktepe. Castles at Salmakis to the west and Zephyrion to the east mark the junction of the city wall and the harbor. Although no traces remain of Mylasa Gate, which opened to the east, large portions of the Myndos Gate survive intact. The Myndos Gate was constructed with two monumental towers at either side.In front of the gate was a moat, 56 meters long, 7 meters wide and 2.5 meters deep. The Greek historian and writer Flavius Arrianus writes about Alexander the Great, arriving at Halicarnassus in the fall of 334 B.C., setting up his headquarters at a place called Yokubai. His first assault was upon the Mylasa gate of which no trace remains. The attack was repulsed with difficulty by the satrap Orontobates and Memnon of Rhodes. A few days later Alexander, with part of his forces attacked the Myndos gate but was again unsuccessful. He then constructed a wooden bridge over the moat and re-newed the attack on the city. This time, the Macedonians made use of siege towers. The Halicarnassians sallied out and were able to burn down one of the towers and brutal hand to hand fight followed. The wooden bridge, unable to carry the weight of the dead, collapsed, thus causing the death of still more soldiers from both sides. As the fight turned in favour of the Macedonians, the cities defenders panicked and closing the gates too early, caused the death of many more soldiers who got trapped outside. Having suffered heavy casualties, Orontobates and Memnon re-treated to the two inner castles, while sending some of their soldiers on ships to Cos. Alexander ordered the city walls and the city itself to be torn down, with the exception of the palace and the Mausoleum of King Mausolus ( one of the Seven Wonders of the ancient world) . Not waiting for the surrender of the two castles, Alexander left a force of 3000 infantry and 200 cavalry under the command of Ptolemaios, and marched on to Phrygia. If you don't mind scrambling up the remains of the wall the view from on top of the towers is spectacular.....panorama anyone??