Milas | |
|---|---|
 Top to bottom:Boğaziçi,Firuzbey Mosque, Çökertme Bay,Iasos,Beçin Castle,Labraunda, Museum of Fish Market | |
 Map showing Milas District in Muğla Province | |
  Milas Location in Turkey Show map of Turkey Milas Milas (Turkey Aegean) Show map of Turkey Aegean | |
| Coordinates:37°19′N27°47′E / 37.317°N 27.783°E /37.317; 27.783 | |
| Country | Turkey |
| Province | Muğla |
| Government | |
| • Mayor | Fevzi Topuz (CHP) |
Area | 2,067 km2 (798 sq mi) |
| Population (2022)[1] | 147,416 |
| • Density | 71.32/km2 (184.7/sq mi) |
| Time zone | UTC+3 (TRT) |
| Postal code | 48200 |
| Area code | 0252 |
| Website | www |
Milas is a municipality anddistrict ofMuğla Province,Turkey.[2] Its area is 2,067 km2,[3] and its population is 147,416 (2022).[1] The city commands a region with an active economy and is very rich in history and ancient remains, the territory of Milas containing a remarkable twenty-sevenarchaeological sites of note.[4] The city was the first capital of ancientCaria and of theAnatolian beylik ofMenteşe inmediaeval times. The nearby Mausoleum ofHecatomnus is classified as a tentativeUNESCO World Heritage Site.[5]
Milas is focused onagricultural andaquacultural processing, related industrial activities, services, transportation (particularly since the opening ofMilas–Bodrum Airport),tourism and culture. The centre lies about 20 km from the coast and is closer to the airport thanBodrum itself, with many late arrival passengers of the high season increasingly opting to stay in Milas rather than in Bodrum where accommodation is likely to be difficult to find.
Milas district has a total coastline length of 150 km, both to the north-west in theGulf of Güllük and to the south along theGulf of Gökova, and to these should be added the shores ofLake Bafa in the north divided between the district area of Milas and that ofAydın district ofSöke.
Along with the province seat ofMuğla and the province's southernmost district ofFethiye, Milas is among the prominent settlements of south-west Turkey, these three centers being on a par with each other in terms of all-year population and the area their depending districts cover. Milas center is situated on a fertile plain at the foot of Mount Sodra, on and around which sizable quarries of whitemarble are found and have been used since very ancient times.
The nameMylasa ((Ancient Greek:Μύλασα), with the oldAnatolian ending in -asa is evidence of very early foundation. On the basis of the-mil syllable found also in the name theLycians called themselvesTrmili, a theory connects the name of Mylasa with the passage of the Lycians fromMiletus, also claimed to be a Lycian foundation under the name Millawanda byEphorus, to their final home in the south.[citation needed] But there is nothing else to suggest a Lycian origin for the name Mylasa.[6]Stephanus of Byzantium in hisEthnica says that the city took its name from a certain Mylasus, son ofChrysaor and a descendant ofSisyphus and Aeolus, an explanation some sources deem unsubstantial for a Carian city.[7]
The city's earliest historical mention is at the beginning of the 7th century BC, when aCarian leader from Mylasa by name Arselis is recorded to have helpedGyges of Lydia in his contest for theLydian throne. The same episode is at the origin of the accounts surrounding the beginning of the cult for and the erection of the statue of Labrandean Zeus in the neighboring sanctuary ofLabranda, held sacred by peoples across western Anatolia, with the statue holding thelabrys brought over by Arselis fromLydia.
Labrandean Zeus (sometimes also named "Zeus Stratios") was one of the three deities proper to Mylasa, all named Zeus but each bearing indigenous characteristics. Of these, the cult of Zeus Carius (Carian Zeus) was also notable in being exclusively reserved, aside from the Carians, to their Lydian andMysian kinsmen. One of the finest temples was also the one dedicated to Zeus Osogoa (originally, justOsogoa),traceable to times when the Carians had been a maritime folk and which recalled toPausanias theAcropolis of Athens.[clarification needed][8]
UnderAchaemenid rule Mylasa was the chief city of Caria. A ruler appointed by thePersian Emperor (satrap) ruled the city in varying degrees of allegiance to the emperor.
The first dynasty of rulers under the Achaemenid Empire was theLygdamid dynasty (520-450 BCE). Between 460-450 BC, Mylasa was a regionally prominent member of theDelian League, like most Carian cities, but the Persian rule was restored towards the end of the same century.
TheHecatomnids, the dynasty founded byHecatomnus, were officiallysatraps of thePersian Empire but Greek in language and culture, as their inscriptions and coins witness. Mylasa was their capital and the mausoleum of Hecatomnus can still be seen today which served as an architectural precedent from which the later mausolea of the dynasty developed. During the long and striking reign ofMausolus, they became virtual rulers ofCaria and of a sizable surrounding region between 377-352 BC. During Mausolus's reign the capital was moved toHalicarnassus, but Mylasa retained its importance. Mausolus was the builder of the famousAncient Wonder of the World, theMausoleum at Halicarnassus.
In 40 BCE Mylasa suffered great damage when it was taken byLabienus in theRoman Civil War. In the Greco-Roman period, though the city was contested among the successors of Alexander, it enjoyed a season of brilliant prosperity, and the three neighbouring towns ofEuromus,Olymos andLabranda were included within its limits. Mylasa is frequently mentioned by ancient writers. At the time of Strabo (the first century BCE), the city boasted two remarkable orators, Euthydemos (in Greek Εὐθύδημος) and Hybreas (Ὑβρέας), whose relationship gave rise to the adage "necessary evil". Euthydemos and Hybreas were antagonistic politicians, and when Euthydemos died, Hybreas spoke at his funeral, where he noted, ”You are a necessary evil: we can live neither with you nor without you." Various inscriptions tell us that thePhrygian cults were represented here by the worship ofSabazios; the Egyptian, by that ofIsis andOsiris. There was also a temple ofNemesis. An inscription from Mylasa[9] provided one of the few certain data about the life ofCornelius Tacitus, identifying him as governor ofAsia in 112-13.
Among the ancientbishops of Mylasa wasSaint Ephrem (fifth century), whose feast was kept on January 23, and whose relics were venerated in neighbouring city ofLeuke. Cyril and his successor, Paul, are mentioned byNicephorus Callistus[10] and in theLife of Saint Xene.Michel Le Quien mentioned the names of three other bishops,[11] and since his time the inscriptions discovered refer to two others, one anonymous,[12] the other named Basil, who built a church in honour ofSaint Stephen.[13] TheSaint Xene referred to above was a Roman noblewoman who, to escape the marriage which her parents wished to force upon her, donned male attire, left her country, changed her name from Eusebia to Xene ("stranger"), and lived first on the island ofCos, then at Mylasa. Since theFourth Crusade, Mylasa has remained atitular see of theRoman Catholic Church,Mylasensis; the seat has been vacant since the death of the last bishop in 1966.[14]
Milas and the surrounding region (the Byzantinetheme ofMylasa and Melanoudion) was taken over by theTurks under the command of Menteşe Bey in the late thirteenth century, who gave his name to thebeylik (Menteşe) that established its capital in the city. The administrative center of his descendants was the castle ofBeçin located in the contemporary dependant township of the same name at a distance of 5 km (3 mi) from Milas and which was easier to defend.
Milas, together with the entireBeylik ofMenteşe was taken over by theOttoman Empire in 1390. However, just twelve years later,Tamerlane and his forces overcame the Ottomans in theBattle of Ankara, and returned control of this region to its former rulers, the MenteşeBeys, as he did for otherAnatolian beyliks. Milas was brought back under Ottoman control, this time in 1420 by the SultanMehmed I. One of the first acts of the Ottomans was to transfer the regional administrative seat toMuğla.
From 1867 until 1922, Milas was part of theAidin Vilayet of theOttoman Empire. At the turn of the twentieth century, according to 1912 figures, Milas' urban center had a population of 9,000, of whom some 2,900 wereGreek, a thousand or soJewish, and the remaining majority wereTurkish.[15] The Greeks of Milas were exchanged withTurks living inGreece under the 1923 agreement for theexchange of Greek and Turkish populations between the two countries, while the sizable Jewish community remained as a presence till the 1950s, at which time they emigrated toIsrael; Jews formerly of Milas still visit frequently to this day.
Milas has ahot-summer Mediterranean climate (Köppen:Csa),[16] with very hot, dry summers and mild, rainy winters.
| Climate data for Milas (1991–2020) | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Month | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | Year |
| Mean daily maximum °C (°F) | 15.0 (59.0) | 16.0 (60.8) | 18.9 (66.0) | 22.9 (73.2) | 28.0 (82.4) | 33.5 (92.3) | 36.8 (98.2) | 36.7 (98.1) | 32.6 (90.7) | 27.4 (81.3) | 21.4 (70.5) | 16.4 (61.5) | 25.5 (77.9) |
| Daily mean °C (°F) | 9.4 (48.9) | 10.3 (50.5) | 12.7 (54.9) | 16.3 (61.3) | 21.0 (69.8) | 26.4 (79.5) | 29.5 (85.1) | 29.1 (84.4) | 24.8 (76.6) | 19.9 (67.8) | 14.4 (57.9) | 10.7 (51.3) | 18.7 (65.7) |
| Mean daily minimum °C (°F) | 5.2 (41.4) | 5.7 (42.3) | 7.2 (45.0) | 10.1 (50.2) | 14.1 (57.4) | 19.1 (66.4) | 22.1 (71.8) | 22.1 (71.8) | 17.9 (64.2) | 13.9 (57.0) | 9.3 (48.7) | 6.7 (44.1) | 12.8 (55.0) |
| Averageprecipitation mm (inches) | 144.95 (5.71) | 106.69 (4.20) | 75.72 (2.98) | 53.39 (2.10) | 31.77 (1.25) | 9.17 (0.36) | 3.09 (0.12) | 4.09 (0.16) | 19.42 (0.76) | 55.51 (2.19) | 98.65 (3.88) | 123.67 (4.87) | 726.12 (28.59) |
| Average precipitation days(≥ 1.0 mm) | 10.2 | 8.6 | 7 | 5.6 | 3.8 | 1.8 | 1.5 | 1.2 | 2.2 | 4.1 | 5.9 | 9.4 | 61.3 |
| Averagerelative humidity (%) | 72.0 | 69.5 | 66.4 | 64.0 | 60.1 | 51.5 | 47.7 | 51.4 | 56.7 | 64.5 | 70.7 | 73.8 | 62.5 |
| Source:NOAA[17] | |||||||||||||
The Mausoleum of Hecatomnus was discovered in 2010 when men were arrested for illegal digging for antiquities. A marble sarcophagus and numerous frescoes were discovered in the tomb, although it was believed many relics had already been taken from the tomb and sold on the black market.[18] Recently a golden crown from the tomb has been identified and agreed to be returned to Turkey.[19] The tomb is very important for understanding of Carian art and craftsmanship as it was built by their best architects and sculptors and was a predecessor of the magnificentMausoleum at Halicarnassus.
The walls surrounding thetemenos of one of the temples dedicated to one of theZeus (probably Zeus Osogoa and built in the first century BC) are still visible, as well as a row of columns.
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The eighteenth-century English travellerRichard Pococke relates, in hisTravels, having seen the temple ofAugustus here; its materials have since partially been taken by Turks to build amosque.
One of the two ancient symbols of the town is "Baltalıkapı" (Gate with an axe), a well-preservedRoman gate called as due to the eponymous double-headed axe (labrys) carved into a keystone.
There is also a two-storied monumental Roman tomb dating from the 2nd century AD, called "Gümüşkesen" today and which gives its name to a whole quarter of Milas, and referred to as "Dystega" in some dated sources. This monument is most likely a simplified copy of the famous tomb ofMausolus inHalicarnassus.
There are a number of historical Turkish buildings in Milas, dating from both theMenteşe and theOttoman periods. A number of old houses built in the nineteenth or early twentieth century that have been preserved in their original appearance are also worthy of mention. Among the three most important mosques of Milas, The Great Mosque dating from 1378 and Orhan Bey Mosque dating from 1330 were built when Milas was the capital of the Turkish principality of Menteşe. The slightly more imposing Firuz Bey Mosque was built shortly the first incorporation of Milas into the Ottoman Empire and bears the name of the city's first Ottoman administrator.
Milas carpets and rugs woven of wool have been internationally famous for centuries and bear typical features. In our day, they are no longer produced in the city of Milas, but rather in a dozen villages around Milas. For the whole territory of Milas district, up to 7000 weavers'looms remain active, either full-time or at intervals following the demand, which remains quite lively both in Turkey and abroad.
Beçin Castle, the capital ofMenteşe Beys, is situated at the dependent township of Beçin, at a distance of 5 kilometers from Milas city. The fortress has been restored in 1974, and the compound includes twomosques, twomedreses, ahamam, the remains of aByzantinechapel as well as traces from earlier periods.
At a distance of 14 km. from Milas center, set on a steep hillside and surrounded by pine forests is the ancient Carian cult center ofLabranda, its name echoing once again the eponymous tradition of labrys. The ruins, including a temple, banqueting halls and tombs, were excavated by aSwedish team in early 20th century, as well as the views over the valley, attract the interest of rather few adventurous visitors prepared for the climb.[citation needed]
Gökçeler Canyon andİncirliin Cave inside the canyon are visitor attractions.
There are 132neighbourhoods in Milas District:[20]
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