Milas

The name Mylasa ( Milasa ), with the old Anatolian ending in -asa, is sufficient evidence of the antiquity of the city's origin. On the basis of the syllable -mil , which is also found in the self-name of the Lycians : Trmili (Trmili), one theory that some researchers adhere to, but which remains unproven, connects the name "Milas" with the promotion of the Lycians from Miletus , which also, according to Efor Kimsky , was founded by the Lycians under the name Millawanda, south, to the place where they settled. But it says nothing more about the Lycian origin of the name Milas ^[2] . Stephen the Byzantine in his work Ethnica ( Ethnica or Description of the Nations) says that the city got its name from a certain Mylasus, the son of Chrysaor and a descendant of Sisyphus and Aeolus, an explanation that some sources consider unreasonable in Regarding the city in Caria. ^[3]

Antique Period

The city is located on a fertile plain at the foot of the mountain with large quarries, where white marble was mined, which went to the construction and decoration of the city's temples and other buildings from antiquity.

Millases were captured by Labin during the Civil War. In the Greco-Roman period, the city flourished, spreading its influence to three neighboring cities: Olim , Labranda and Eurom . The city and its environs were richly decorated with porticoes and temples, among them - three temples of Zeus: Zeus Osogo, Zeus Labrandinsky and Zeus of Caria ( Strabo , XIV, ii, 23). Millases are often referred to by ancient authors. During the time of Strabo, two eminent speakers, Euphem and Gibrey , lived in the city. From various inscriptions it is known that Phrygian cults were represented here by worship of Sabazius (= Bacchus ), Egyptian - by worship of Isis and Osiris . There was also a temple of Nemesis .

One of the inscriptions from Milas (first published in the journal Bulletin de correspondance hellénique , 1890, pp. 621–623) contained one of the few accurate information about the life of Cornelius Tacitus , indicating that he was Asian proconsul between 112 and 113 .

Christian period

Among the ancient bishops of Milas was St. Ephraim (V century), which is celebrated on January 23 and whose relics were revered in the neighboring city of Leuke . Cyril and his successor Paul are mentioned by Nicephorus Callistus ( Hist. Eccl. , XIV, 52), as well as in the life of St. Xenia of Milas . Lekien mentions the names of three more bishops ( Oriens christianus , I, 921), while the inscriptions discovered since then mention two other bishops, one anonymous (CIG, 9271), and the other named Basil , who built the church in honor of St. Stephen ( Bulletin de correspondance hellenique , XIV, 616). The aforementioned St. Xenia was a noble virgin from Rome , who, in order to avoid marriage imposed by her parents, dressed in men's clothes, left the country, changed the name Eusebius to the name Xenia (foreigner), and lived first on the island of Kos , and then in Milas.

Millas remains the titular episcopal diocese Roman Catholic Church , Milasian ( Mylasensis ); The diocese remains vacant after the death of the last bishop in 1966 ^[4] .

Turkish period

In the middle of the 13th century, Milas with its surroundings was captured by the Turks , headed by Mentes-bei, who gave his name to the principality, the capital of which was the city, and the administrative center was Beçin Castle, located in the modern suburban village of the same name at a distance of 5 km from Milas which was easier to defend.

Milas, along with the entire “Beilik” (principality) Menteshe passed to the Ottoman Empire in 1390 . However, only 12 years later, Tamerlan with his army defeated the Ottoman Turks in the battle of Ankara and regained control of the region to the former rulers, Beyam Menteshe, as well as other Anatolian Turkish Beiliks. Milas was returned to the power of the Ottomans by Sultan Mehmed II the Conqueror in 1451 .

At the beginning of the XX century , according to figures for 1912 , the population of the city of Milas totaled 9 thousand people, of which approx. 2900 were Greeks , about a thousand were Jews , and the rest were Turks ^[5] . Greeks living in Millas were exchanged for Turks living in Greece under the agreement of 1923 on the exchange of Greek and Turkish populations between the two countries, while a prominent Jewish community continued until the 1950s, when Jews emigrated to Israel , although to this day often visited by Milas.

The walls surrounding the " temenos " of one of the temples dedicated to one of Zeus ( possibly Zeus Osogo , and built in the first century BC), have survived to this day, as well as a number of columns.

18th Century English Traveler Richard Pocock mentions in his Travels that he saw here the Temple of Augustus , whose stones have since been partially used by the Turks to build a mosque .

One of the two ancient symbols of the city is the “Baltalikapi” ( Baltalıkapı , “Gate with an Ax”), the well-preserved gate of the Roman Empire , so nicknamed thanks to the eponymous bilateral battle ax ( labris ), carved in a castle stone.

There is also a two-story monumental Roman crypt dating back to the second century AD, which today is called Gümüşkesen and which gave its name to the whole quarter of Milas, and in some old sources it is called Dystega . This monument is likely to be a simplified copy of the famous tomb of Mausolus in Halicarnassus .

In Milas, you can see a number of historical Turkish buildings dating back to both the Menteshe period and the times of the Ottoman Empire . A number of old houses built in the 19th century or at the beginning of the 20th century and preserved in their original form deserve mention. Among the three most significant mosques in Milas are the Grand Mosque of 1378 and the Orhan Bay Mosque of 1330, which were erected when Milas was the administrative center of the Turkish principality of Menteshe. The somewhat more impressive Firuz Bey Mosque was erected shortly after Milas’s first inclusion in the Ottoman Empire and bears the name of the first Ottoman ruler of the city.

Carpets and rugs of Milas made from wool have been internationally renowned for centuries and have characteristic features. Nowadays, they are already being manufactured not in Milas itself, but in a dozen villages in the vicinity of the city. Up to seven thousand carpet weaving looms operate throughout the entire Milas region, either continuously or intermittently in accordance with demand, which remains at a fairly high level both in Turkey and abroad.

Bechin Castle , the capital of the Mentesi Bey, is located in the satellite town of Bechin, 5 kilometers from the city of Milas. The fortress was restored in 1974, on its territory there are two mosques, two madrassas , a hamam , the ruins of a Byzantine chapel , as well as traces of earlier historical periods.

14 kilometers from the center of Millas is located on a steep hillside surrounded by a pine forest, the Carian cult center of Labrand , whose name again recalls the labris. The ruins, including the temple, feasting halls and graves, were excavated by a group of Swedish archaeologists at the beginning of the 20th century, and together with the picturesque views of the valley attract the attention of quite a few visitors who are ready to overcome the ascent to the mountains.

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  Typical chimneys in a local style

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  Stork's nest at the top of an ancient column

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  In the Outskirts of Milas

• Heraclides of Milas is an ancient Greek commander and naval commander of the 6th-5th centuries BC. e.
• Mausoleum , satrap of the power of the Achaemenids , the actual ruler of Caria in the period 377 - 352 BC. e., who built the famous Halicarnassus mausoleum .
• Ksenia of Milas is a Christian saint (d. In the second half of the fifth century).
• Rabbi Albert Jean Amato , leader of the American Sephardic Jewish community and community activist.
• Turhan Seljuk , Turkish cartoonist , creator of the fictional character Abdulkanbaz and the eponymous comic book series .

• Milas carpet
• Buff
• Milas Bodrum Airport
• Jasos is an ancient city in the vicinity of Milas

• milas.gov.tr - the official site of the district
• milas.bel.tr - the official website of the city
• Phototour in Turkey with the help of photos of an experienced photographer
• Milas Business Guide (English)
• Milas Mercantile High School