Built by Sultan Suleyman the Magnificent, it’s amazing to think that this small castle once held over 200,000 troops, who were massed here for the siege of Rhodes in 1522. The siege, defended by the Knights of St. John who had their own substantial castle in nearby Bodrum, was successful, and the great Christian fortification in Bodrum, long the last Christian bastion at the Ottoman frontier, was packed up and most of its knights sent to exile in Malta. Today this castle houses a museum that is mostly nautical in nature, with an assortment of exhibits and some nice views out from atop the castle walls.