Greek city of Mylasa in Caria
Bronze 15mm (4.57 grams) Struck circa 200-100 B.C.
Reference: SNG Copenhagen 423
Horse galloping right.
ΜΥΛΑΣΕΩ, decorated trident.

The principal non-Greek city of Cria, Mylasa was situated west of Stratonikeia and not far from the head of the Bargylian gulf. It became the capital of the country under the satrap Hekatomnos, 395-377 B.C., but his successor, Maussollos, removed the seat of government to Halikarnassos, circa 367 B.C.

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Milas (ancient Mylasa) is an ancient city and the seat of the district of the same name in Muğla Province in southwestern Turkey. The city commands a region with an active economy, and the region is very rich in history and its remains, the whole territory of Milas district containing a remarkable twenty-seven archaeological sites of note. The city was the first capital of ancient Caria and of the Anatolian beylik of Menteşe in medieval times.

The centre of Milas presents the overall characteristics of a well-grown city focused on agricultural and aquacultural processing, related industrial activities, services, transportation (particularly since the opening of Milas-Bodrum Airport), tourism and culture. The center is at a distance of about twenty km from the coast and is actually closer to the airport than Bodrum 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 covers a total area of 2167 km2 and this area follows a total coastline length of 150 km, both to the north-west in the Gulf of Güllük and to the south along the Gulf of Gökova, and to these should be added the shores of Lake Bafa in the north divided between the district area of Milas and that of Aydın district of Söke.

Along with the province seat of Muğla and the province’s southernmost district of Fethiye, 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. Five townships which have their own municipalities and a total of 114 villages depend Milas, distinguishing the district with a record number of dependent settlements for a very wide surrounding region. Milas center is situated on a fertile plain at the foot of Mount Sodra on and around which sizable quarries of the white marble are found and have been used since very ancient times.

Milas’s political colour has been centre-left for the last decade.

The city’s earliest historical mention is at the beginning of the 7th century BC, when a Carian leader from Mylasa by name Arselis is recorded to have helped Gyges of Lydia in his contest for the Lydian 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 city of Labranda, held sacred by peoples across western Anatolia, with the statue holding the labrys brought over by Arselis from Lydia. 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 and Mysian kinsmen. One of the finest temples was also the one dedicated to Zeus Osogoa (originally, just Osogoa), traceable to times when the Carians had been a maritime folk and which recalled to Pausanias the Acropolis of Athens.

 Persian period

Under Achaemenid rule Mylasa was the chief city of Caria. A ruler appointed by the Persian Emperor (satrap) ruled the city in varying degrees of allegiance to the emperor. Between 460-450 BC, Mylasa was a regionally prominent member of the Delian League, like most Carian cities, but the Persian rule was restored towards the end of the same century.

 Hecatomnid dynasty

The dynasty named the Hecatomnids, founded by the Carian Hecatomnus and continued under his sons and daughters were officially satraps of the Persian Empire. Mylasa was at once their hometown and their capital. But especially during the long and striking reign of Mausolus, they became virtual rulers of Caria and of a sizable surrounding region between 377-352 BC. It was during Mausolus’s reign that the capital was moved to Halicarnassus, but Mylasa retained its importance. Mausolus was the builder of the famous Mausoleum of Mausolus. The international term “Mausoleum” derives from this Carian ruler.

 Roman period

In 40 BCE Mylasa suffered greaty damage when it was taken by Labienus in the Roman 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 of Euromus, Olymos and Labranda were included within its limits. Mylasa is frequently mentioned by ancient writers. At the time of Strabo the city boasted two remarkable orators, Euthydemos and Hybreas. Various inscriptions tell us that the Phrygian cults were represented here by the worship of Sabazios; the Egyptian, by that of Isis and Osiris. There was also a temple of Nemesis. An inscription from Mylasa provided one of the few certain data about the life of Cornelius Tacitus, identifying him as governor of Asia in 112-13.

 Christian era

Among the ancient bishops of Mylasa was Saint Ephrem (fifth century), whose feast was kept on January 23, and whose relics were venerated in neighbouring city of Leuke. Cyril and his successor, Paul, are mentioned by Nicephorus Callistus and in the Life of Saint Xene. Michel Le Quien mentioned the names of three other bishops, and since his time the inscriptions discovered refer to two others, one anonymous, the other named Basil, who built a church in honour of Saint Stephen. The Saint 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 of Cos, then at Mylasa. Since the Fourth Crusade, Mylasa has remained a titular see of the Roman Catholic Church, Mylasensis; the seat has been vacant since the death of the last bishop in 1966.