Mausolus the son of Hecatomnus became the satrap of Caria in 377 BC. Sometime after 370, he moved the capital of Caria from Mylasa to Halicarnassus. He built a modern wall in a wide arc around the city, enclosing both Salmacis and the Greek settlement east of the harbor. Between the settlements on the terraces above the harbor, where once there had been a necropolis, he built a city fit to be the capital of his country. It was laid out on a grid of streets which crossed at right angles. To populate the new town, he brought in the inhabitants from a number of other villages on the peninsula of Halicarnassus. The name of this district is not historical (except that it is the Greek form of the word Mausoleum), but was chosen to reflect the role of Mausolus in its creation.

There are many fine sights in this district. There is a temple of Ares at the top of the slope above the town, with a famous statue of the god. North of the main road is a theater which can seat 13,000 people. And right at the center of the city is the tomb of Mausolus, a building so resplendent that it was one of the seven wonders of the ancient world.

District write-up by Demetrios Xanthippos
Photo of statue of Mausolus from Livius.org