MYLASA
Mylasa is a very picturesque western Anatolian town, halfway between Söke and
Bodrum. Though the population has recently expanded, it has lost none of its
traditional flavour. Typical of the city are the old houses with overlying bay
windows and courtyards. On every Tuesday the biggest bazaar in the Aegean takes
place there. Mylasa was the capital of the ancient kingdom of Caria but in 350
BC, by order of King Mausolos it lost that position to Halicarnassos, because it
had no harbour. However the city was never abandoned and is still a thriving
hive of business.
LABRANDA
Just as Didyma was the holy site for the nearby city of Miletos, so too was Labranda the holy site (of the God Zeus) for the city of Mylasa. The Carian people built a road between Mylasa and Labranda. The oldest ruins are from BC 600 but most of the present buildings were built in BC 377-344 by the King Mausolos and is brother Idreus. These buildings have withstood many earthquakes. The city was a major centre of worship for many centuries and was also famous for the sweetness of its fresh water.
HALIKARNASSOS
Bodrum is one of the most extensively visited and one of the most famous places in Turkey. According to legend it was built by the Dorians and Lelegians in the 11th century BC . In the 7th century BC it fell to the Lidians and in the next century to the Persians. Herodotus, who is known as the father of history, was born in Halicarnassos. The Mausoleum, one of the seven wonders of the ancient world, was found in this city. The famous King Mausolos made Halicarnassos the capital of the kingdom of Caria and in his time it was one of the cities that successfully repelled the attacks of the Persians. This resistance was eventually useless and the city passed into the hands of other kingdoms and finally lost its importance.
During the Middle Ages the Knights of St. John, based in Rhodes, built a Crusader castle which still stands in Bodrum and the city recovered some of its old importance. It came under the dominance of the Ottomans in 1552. During the period of the Ottoman Empire and the early Republic it was used as a place of banishment for dissidents and intellectuals. Cevat Şakir was banished here for three years but when his time was up he returned here to settle and stayed for the rest of his life. He wrote many books about the area under the pen-name ‘The Fisherman of Halicarnassos’.
