Present day Milas stands on the site of Mylasa. Most of the Ancient city has been built over, but some remains are well worth seeing.

Mylasa was a Carian city joined with the neighboring religious center, Labranda. Mausolus was born here and made it his capital when he became King. Later he moved his capital to Halicarnassus, the site of his wondrous Mausoleum.

 

The Romans built a scaled-down replica of the Mausoleum at Mylasa in the 1st Century AD. This 'Roman Tomb', located on the western edge of town and in an excellent state of preservation, has given historians a clearer idea of what the original Mausoleum must have looked like.

 

Other notable remnants from antiquity include the Temple of Zeus with a wall of fine ashlar masonry and one single, elegant column, and one single, elegant column, and the Roman gateway, the only remaining part of once-extensive city walls.

About 2 km south of Milas lie relics from the Mentese Turks, a nomadic clan that ruled southwestern Anatolia before the Ottomans. Their stronghold here was the Castle of Peçin Kale. Not much of this fortress has survived but the area contains ruins of the residences of Turkish governors of old Milas and a small Koran school, circa 1375.

 

Back in Milas are three 14th Century mosques: the simple Orhan Bey Camii (1330) and the Ulu Camii (1378), and the more interesting Firuz Bey Camii, built 1394, just after the Ottoman conquest. This mosque is a fine example of Ottoman architecture and has an elaborate pinkish marble facade.

Mylasa was originally connected to Labranda by a 12-km sacred road used for religious processions. This place served as Mylasa's religious center, with Zeus the chosen deity of worship.

 

Labranda also had a sacred pool of fish adorned with earrings and necklaces. These fish were thought capable of making yes or no prophecies by accepting or refusing food offered to them after question.

Labranda never grew any larger than a village, leaving today's ruins with an intimate atmosphere. Set high on a hill in a grove of pine trees above Milas, Labranda is well worth the bumpy ride required to get there.

 

Several teams have undertaken the excavation of Labranda, uncovering much of interest. The sturdy foundation of a large Temple of Zeus has been cleared, as well as a marble building, which may have harbored the sacred fish. Also included are the solid andron, or men's club, with galls almost two meters thick, and a monumental tomb, with three sarcophagi inside, on the hillside above the temple site.