Bodrum’s windmills to host tourists

MUĞLA - Anatolia News Agency

The windmills, located in the old neighborhood of Gümbet, are visited by thousands of tourists every year, according to Bodrum Mayor Mehmet Kocadon. AA photo

A project that has been prepared for the protection of historic but neglected windmills in the Aegean province of Muğla’s Bodrum district was submitted to the Muğla Council of Monuments. The project aims to open the windmills to tourism after restoration.

The windmills, located in the old neighborhood of Gümbet, are visited by thousands of local and foreign tourists every year. The windmills damage the landscape of the town because of lack of maintenance. Only one of the windmills in the region was restored nearly two years ago and opened to tourism.
The municipality had prepared a project for the rehabilitation of eight projects and submitted it to the council, said Bodrum Mayor Mehmet Kocadon to the Anatolia news agency.

“With the project, we will connect eight windmills to each other through crossroads. Cafes and rest areas will be established in the restored windmills. There will also be parks and a decorative pool in the environment of windmills along with car parking lots. If the project is approved by the council, Bodrum will have a very nice terrace view,” Kocadon said.

Kocadon said they had prepared the project by consulting the owners of the land where the windmills were located and the owners were very helpful to the municipality. He said one of the most important problems of the popular holiday resort of Bodrum will be solved when the project is done.

“We have been working on this project for one and a half years. I hope the council will approve it in a short time and we will start working,” he said.

Unique scenery

The Chamber of Shipping (DTO) Bodrum Chair Gündüz Nalbantoğlu, who is the owner of two windmills, said he had presented a project regarding the region in the past but it was not approved by relevant institutes.

He said the bad visual of the windmills should definitely be removed. “A project including restaurants and cafes can be prepared,” he said. “If the project is approved by the council, the region will be more attractive and the hill where the windmills are placed will be taken under control.”

Nalbantoğlu said the windmill area had a view of the city. “This is very unique scenery in the world. There is the Bodrum Castle, which is illuminated at night, on one side and Gümbet on the other side. You can see the blue of the sea and the Bodrum panorama. Most tourists come to this place by busses and take photos. They are told the history of Bodrum here and shown places like the Bodrum Castle, Ancient Theater and Halicarnassus Mausoleum from afar. I don’t want to sell such a valuable place but to bring it in tourism.”

The Turkish Travel Agencies Union (TÜRSDAB) Bodrum Executive Chair Sevinç Gökbel said the restoration of windmills was very significant for the region. She said, “Bodrum has expanded too much. It needs new social areas. The region of windmills can serve tourism. Also, these windmills give information about Bodrum’s traditional structure and socio-economic situation in the past. This is why the region should be preserved.”