Knidos, Turkey on yacht charter is a “must do” itinerary stop. The ruins of Knidos, Turkey or Cnidos, an ancient city of Hellenic, Roman and Byzantine cultures, are located just on the very tip of the Datca Peninsula in Turkey. With the ancient harbor still intact, you can cruise right into one side of the ancient harbor, anchor and wander these extensive ruins, literally “in the wild”. We just visited Knidos, and anchored in the ancient harbor overnight while cruising on the Gulet Mare Nostrum from Marmaris to Bodrum. And for a magical evening, dined on deck with the marble of the ancient ruins and amphitheatre gleaming in the moonlight around us. In the morning, we went ashore and wandered through these extensive ruins just sitting in situ as they have for centuries.
The street layout has been excavated proving Knidos to have been a planned city laid out on the Hippodamos Grid system with a series of parallel streets, intersected by one uphill street starting at the peninsula end of the bridge to the island.
Besides being a wealthy trading city, Knidos was also known for the quality of the locally produced wine, which was exported far and wide in the many ships that stopped in this busy port city. Knidos wine amphora’s can now be seen in the Underwater Marine Archaeology Museum housed in the crusader castle in Bodrum, which were excavated from ancient ship wrecks in the area.
Knidos was home to several famous Eudoxos, a famous Mathematician, and Astronomer and Sostratos, the Architect that designed the famous ancient lighthouse in Alexandria, now collapsed and being excavated from the bottom of the surrounding sea, which was once one of the seven ancient wonders of the world.Stopping in at Knidos, Turkey on yacht charter is a “must do” on any charter itinerary, and is a natural stop as the ancient harbor still offers safe overnight anchorage for all mariners.