Milas ( Mylasa)
Milas is a geographical area in the province of Mugla with great natural beauty and boasts 30 ancient cities and settlements throughout the county.

The town spreads out over the slopes of mount Sodra and the plain that bears its name, has been inhabited since 1000 B.C. Milas takes its name from Mylasos, a descendent of the wind God, Aeolis. lt was the capital city of Caria and a place of pilgrimage during Carian times as it was the site of the famous temple of 'Zeus of the Doubleaxe' in antiquity.

In ancient times Milas was called the city of temples because of the extensive use of marble in its buildings. Milas's 3000 years of continuous culture and history is visible at every corner.

Nowadays Milas also plays an important part in yacht tourism with its two gulfs of Mandalya and Gökova. After Captain Cousteau visited these bays he said "Whoever wants to see paradise should visit the Gökova gulf."
The western Menteshe Mountains are rich in fauna and floraon in the high plateaus. These mountains are ideal for hunting and trekking tours.
The Milas Region is also famous for its carpets. They have been admired all over the world. One example is exhibited in the New York Art Museum
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Labranda

Labranda was a Karian city, famous with great plane tree forests, its water and Zeus Labrandos temple. The temple was a place for pilgrimage. Labranda was joined to ancient Mylasa (Milas) with a sacred road which is 13 km long. The suffix (-nda) was the place word used ba Karians and Lykians in the old Anatolia. Labrynthos comes from the word Labrys which means two-sided axe. The axe is also the symbol of Head God Zeus.

The oldest things found in Labranda belonged to 600 B.C. The temple. Where the Antiques were more, was dwelled between 600 B.C. and 400 B.C.
Main Buildings:
The temple of Zeus: It was built in the time of satrap Hidrieus who lived between 351 B.C and 344 B.C. The dimensions are 25 x 16 metres and 6 x 11 metres one row columns with Attica.
South and East Entrances: (Propylea) It was also build by Hidrieus and located on the road which joined the Sacred Road with the city,.
The Doric House: It is called thus because of the four Doric style columns in front of the building, built by Hidreus.
The Stadium: It is 176 metres long and the two ends of the building are still whole.
Great Grave: The building includes a front courtyard and two rooms one after the other. It was built in the soft rock technique in the 4th cntury BC.
The Houses of the Monks: On the Architrav there is a script saying: ?Hidrieus, the son of Hekatomnas from Mylasa has devoted these house to the God Zeus."
The Androns: These are some kind of clubs where met. There are tree Andron, (A) was built by Maussolos between 377 and 352 B.C. Andron (B) and (C) were built by Hidrieus.
The North Stoa: This was built by Maussolos.
The East House: It was built in the 5th century B.C.
Old House with Terrace: It was buiklt in the 5th century B.C. and the New House was built in the 4th century B.C. The bath and the East Church were built in Byzantian period. The fountain and the West Stoa and the bath were built in the 1st century A.C.
Between Milas and Labranda the remainders of the Sacred Road can be seen.

The burial chamber still seen today , was most probably robbed much earlier than the theft by the Knights of Rhodes.

Groups of English, French, and German knights undertook the work and its financing. Today, the towers of the castle are named after the countries that paid for their construction: English Tower, German Tower, and so on. In addition to these, there is another tower, 'Liman' or 'Harbor' Tower, that now serves as the main entrance to the castle. As originally constructed, this tower stood in the sea which has since been filled in. Another gate, called the 'Northern Moat Entrance', opens into the main plaza of Bodrum and originally was the castle's landward entrance. The land on which the castle stands was, at one time an island known as Zefirya, after Zephyros, the god of the west wind. The castle is thought to occupy the sites of what were the palace of King Mausolos and of a temple dedicated to Apollo, the principle deity worshipped by the Halicarnassans. Remains of the palace defensive walls are thought to still exist. The island was joined to the mainland in Hellenistic times, when Halikarnassos was part of the kingdom of Pergamon.
Examining the defense system of the castle, the first thing one notices is that the walls on the landward side are much stronger than those on the seaward side. This was because the chief threat to the castle, the Ottomans, would have come from that direction. In those days, threats from the sea would have been less of a worry because the Knights of Rhodes kept the Aegean under their strict control.
In its heyday, the castle was probably manned by fifty knights and perhaps three times that many ordinary soldiers. The knights hailed from seven different European countries and shared in the defense of the castle and its countryside. The castle's defenses were never put to the test, for the Ottomans never attacked it. Instead in 1522, they besieged the island of Rhodes led by their sultan, Süleyman the Magnificent. After holding out for three months, terms were agreed to, under which the Knights had to evacuate Rhodes and five other of their strongholds in the eastern Mediterranean. Petronium was one of them. In January of the following year, the Knights set sail, eventually ending up on Malta in 1530.
The subsequent military history of the castle is rather insignificant. In 1770 the Russian fleet bombarded it briefly. During the first world war, the French did the same but with somewhat more success: they managed to demolish one side of the English Tower.
Bodrum was occupied by the Italians during the same war and while here, they used the castle as a base, and rebuilt the Italian Tower in the form we see today. In the decades following the establishment of the Turkish Republic (1923), the castle suffered from neglect and decay. A few dwellings were built inside and the mosque and bath were used but in the main, people seem to have avoided it.
In the 60s, a decision was made to turn the castle into an archaeological museum. In the years since then, it has been undergoing restoration. Today, it is one of the world's most distinguished museums specializing in underwater archaeology though it also has a fine collection of other antiquities as well.
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Iassos, today it is called Kiyikislacik

Kiyikislacik is astonishingly peaceful and tranquil. The present village only dates from 1929. Before that, it was a Greek farm.
Kiyikislak, the ancient Iasos, lies at the innermost point oft the Gulf of Güllük north of the Bodrum peninsula, and it is 18 kilometers east of Milas. Across the water on the opposite shore Güllük can be seen. In the further distance other villages along the coast of the Bodrum peninsula are visible. While the peninsula is Turkey's most popular holiday area thronged with visitors in summer, Kiyikislak is astonishingly peaceful and tranquil. The present village only dates from 1929. Before that, it was a Greek farm. Today it is famous for its olive groves and cheap and abundant fish, like in ancient days.

Iasos was formerly an island, the founders probably chose it for its protected natural harbour. Excavations of the Carian city Iasos by a team of Italian archaeologists have revealed that the earliest settlement dates back to the Early Bronce Age. Many artifacts and sculptures can be seen in Izmir, Milas und Bodrum museums, and there are some objects and inscriptions made of the local purple marble in a Roman mausoleum referred to locally as the Balik Pazari (Fish Market). Other buildings in the ancient city date from various periods.

The walls, which are the first structure to strike the eye, are thought to date from the Hellenistic period. As well as three temples of Zeus Megistos, Apollo and Artemis. There are numerous Roman buildings, including an agora, theatre aqueducts, cisterns, gymnasium, baths and a bouleuterion. In the sea is an ancient harbour wall and watch towers. One of the two watch towers or lighthouses has been restored and can be reached by walking along the stones of the harbour wall that rises above the sea's surface. When the city was still inhabited, a chain used to be stretched across the entrance to the harbour between the two towers to prevent attack by sea.

In recent years fish farming has become widespread in the area and like in ancient days the abundance of fresh fish in Kiyikislak is one of its main attractions. Every day people come here from the opposite shore just to by fish and a meal at one of the fish restaurants on the seashore here is delightful.

An Iassan Anectode From Strabo
Then one comes to lassos, which lies on an island close to the mainland. lt has a harbor; and the people gain most of their livelihood from the sea, for the sea here is well supplied with fish, but the soil of the country is rather poor. lndeed, people fabricate stories of this kind in regard to lassos: When a citharoede was giving a recital, the people all listened for a time, but when the bell that announced the sale of fish rang, they all left him and went away to the fish market, except one man who was hard of hearing. The citharoede, therefore, went up to him and said: "Sir, I am grateful to you for the honor you have done me and for your love of music, for all the others except you went away the moment they heard the sound of the bell." And the man said, "What's that you say? Has the bell already rung?" And when the citharoede said, "Yes," the man said, "Fare thee well," and himself arose and went away.
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Euromos
Ancient Euromos, located 12 km /7.5 miles north to Milas, was the most important city after Mylasa. The ruins spread on a wide area, but the most interesting part is just off the main road: here stands the 2C AD Temple of Zeus, a Roman peripteral temple, which is one of the best preserved temples in all of Turkey. It stood on a stylobate that measured 14.5 x 27 m/ 47 x 88 ft. Sixteen of the original columns are still standing with their splendid Corinthian capitals. The three columns on the south side and the one at the south-western corner are unfluted, probably because the decoration work was left unfinished. Dedicatory inscriptions can be seen on most of the columns facing north and west. Five of them were presented by physican and magistrate Menecrates and his daughter, and seven by Leo Quintus, another magistrate.
On the hillside to the east and a little above the plain lay the ruins of the theatre. The agora on the flat ground is surrounded by a stoa with some of the columns still standing. Further west there is another stoa. On one of its pillars there is a long inscription recording the financial assistance of a certain Callisthenes to the city and his alliance with Iassos.

Stratonikeia
The ruins of ancient Stratonicea are strewn among crumbling manorial houses and deserted cottages in the farmer village of Eskihisar, which was evacuated same 30 years ago to make room for coal mines. A few families still live among the ruins, which form a strange contrast and a wonderful green oasis in the midst of a grey wasteland of stripped earth. A Prytaneian (City Hall) af cut marble, and a theatre submerged in lentil fields form the highlights.
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PRIENE

Ancient port of the Ionian confederacy, today 15 km/9.5 miles away from the sea, the splendid site of Priene is located at the foot of Mount Mycale, and overlooks the alluvial plain formed by the Meander River. The site that dates back to the 5 C B.C., spreading among olive trees, is of great interest due to the fact that it is laid out on a grid plan ,also called hippodamian plan, named after the architect of the city ,Hippodamus of Miletus. The city was divided into four sections according to cultural, political, religious and commercial life.

The theatre , Hellenistic monument of the second half of the 4C B.C., is one of the best preserved ancient Greek theatres. It was renoved by the Romans and had a seating capacity of 5,000 people. It was also used as the People Assembly (Ekklesia).

The Bouleterion is well preserved and held a capacity of 640 people: It was used for political meeting as a council chamber.

The Prytaneion was the city hall.
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Didyma
Didyma was not a city but a sanctuary linked to Miletus by a Sacred Road. Here, was a renowned prophecy temple dedicated to Apollo where crowds of pilgrims came to consult the oracle. Already in the 6C B.C. a former temple was extremely famous. Destroyed by the Persians in 394 B.C., the impressive temple was rebuilt by the Milesians who wanted to rewin the Greeks and Alexander the Great’s favour, but they could not complete it due to financial problems. Even like this, the temple was considered one of the biggest temples in the Hellenistic world, but still it never regained its past celebrity. Later, when a Byzantine basilica was built in the open-air courtyard, the temple completly lost its pagan function.

The colossal temple was 110m/360ft long, 51m/167ft wide and 24m/78ft high. 3 of the 108 columns that surrounded the sanctuary (120 monumental columns in total) are still entirely standing. The basis of the 8 central columns of the eastern facade are ornemented with beautiful reliefs of the Roman period. The huge and beautiful Head of Medusa relief which has fallen off the frieze must not be missed.
Today, beautiful sand beaches make Didyma a nice small holiday resort.
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Miletus
This prosperous ancient city located at the crossroad of Anatolian Trade routes had four ports that developed on the coast and at the mouth of the Meander River (Büyük Menderes). Its population was between 80,000 and 100,000 inhabitants. Miletus produced geniuses like philosophers Thales, Anaximander, Anaximenes, town planner Hippodamus who all lived around 6C B.C., and Isodorus of Miletus who lived in the 6C A.D. (he and Antemius of Tralles were the architects of Haghia Sophia in Constantinople).

Miletus shared the same fate as other Ionians cities with the domination of the Persians until it was taken by Alexander the Great and later ruled by the Seleucid Dynasty. The city kept the same commercial importance under the Romans. St Paul stopped here in 57 at the end of his third missionary journey.
The city, after it was sacked by the Persians in 494 B.C.,was rebuilt on a hippodamian or grid plan. Because of the silting up of the river, the ruins of Miletus are located today a few kilometers away from the sea.

The theatre, of Hellenistic origin, had a seating capacity of 5,300 people. In the 2C A.D. it was modified by the Romans who enlarged it to a capacity of 15,000 people. It is one of the most important monuments of Miletus.

The Harbour Monuments which stood in front of the Lions’Harbour.

The Delphinium where Apollo was whorshipped (the dolphin was consacrated to him)

The South Agora is a market place of the Hellenistic period.

The Baths of Faustina, wife of Marcus Aurelius, were built in the 2C A.D. and are well preserved.

The Nymphaeum is a 2C A.D monumental fountain which originally had three stories with statues of gods placed
inside niches.

The Stadium with a seating capacity of 15,000 people.

The Ilyas Bey Mosque built in the 15th century by the regional Ottoman military commandant.