www.mugla-turizm.gov.tr

THE MİLAS GUIDE

Important Telephone Numbers
Fire, 110,
Emergency,112,
Police,155,
Forest Fire,177
Governer’s Office                        (252) 513 36 41
Municipality                                (252) 512 10 25      
Airport Central                            (252) 523 03 00
Tourism İnformation                     (252) 523 00 66       Police Headquarters                     (252) 512 10 05
Gendarmerie                     (252) 512 68 28
State Hospital                            (252) 512 10 07
Milas Museum                    (252) 512 39 73
Municipality of Güllük                             (252) 522 36 36
Municipality of Ören                     (252) 532 26 48
Güllük Harbour Master                            (252) 522 20 79;
Güllük Gümrük Muhafaza Kıs.Amirliğ           i(252) 522 22 11
Village clinic of Güllük                            (252) 522 24 23
Village clinic of Ören                    (252) 532 20 13

Transport

You can get to Milas from the İzmir-Aydın main road and from both Aydın and Söke. For Söke take the Ortaklar exit and for Aydın take the Aydın exit from the main auto road. From Aydın you take the road to Muğla and then go through Yatağan to get to Milas. Those who will come by plane should fly into the Bodrum airport, which is ten kilometres from Milas.

Food-Drink

What to eat?

The richness of the Aegean vegetation is reflected in the local Milas cuisine. There are many olive oil dishes.

Vegetable dishes: Çiçek kavurması (fried flowers), börülce çullama (fresh beans), borülce sallama (fresh beans cooked in a different way), ebegümeci kavurma (fried mallow), karnabahar tatarı (a cauliflower dish), platıcan ekşimesi (sour eggplant), yoğurtlama (a yoghurt dish), hardal salata (mustard salad), palandiz palata (vegetable salad), bakla yaprağı salata (a salad made from the leaves of a wide hard bean), kuru biber salata (dry pepper salad), soğan depmesi (an onion dish), acur salata (hairy cucumber salad) and semizotu salata (purslane salad).

Pastry Products: You can get many types of Turkish flat or rolled pastries, with some of the types being Çaykama Böreği, Tepsi Böreği, Vekilharç, Bulgur Böreği, Piriçleme Dökmesi and katmer Böreği.

Meat, Chicken, Fish: Kanlı kavurma (sautéed meat with blood), mumbar dolması (stuffed animal ribs), et kavurma (sautéed meat), etli pırasa (leeks with meat), kabakçiçeği dolması (stuffed marrow flower), ekşili köfte (sour meatballs) and keşkek (minced meat with wheat).

Dessert: Zerde (saffron-flavoured rice dessert).

Where to eat?

It is possible to find local dishes in the town centre and the hamlets. In Beypınarı, seventeen kilometres along the Milas-Muğla main road and set amidst poplar and pine trees, there are trout that grow in the cold water springs in the area. You can have trout dishes, chicken, kanlı kavurma or a delicious breakfast with the local village bread.

It is also a privilege to have eels, bream or bass in the village of Kapıkırı near Lake Bafa. Also, nine kilometres from the village of Ören in Çöketrme, you can try the fish baked a stone oven with a special salad in the Kaptan Restaurant. Twenty nine kilometres from Milas, on the main Milas-Bodrum road, there is the village of Boğaziçi, where you can have shrimp cooked in butter or shrimp cooked in an earthen dish with green olives and local herbs.

Markets

 On every Tuesdays there is the weekly local market set up in Milas that goes all the way to the outskirts of the town. It is like a colourful net that surrounds all of Milas like a funfair. There is the crowd of foreign and domestic tourists coming to the market to buy local products such as olives, and yoghurt, stalls of fresh fruit and vegetables picked from the branches, pine scented honey, and thin hand woven materials sold by traditionally dressed women.

HANDCRAFTS

Handcrafts and embroidery

Some these handcrafts are the type of work Turkish girls do for their dowry such as clothes, coarsely-woven linen, needle work, edgings made with beads, crocheted edgings, carpets and hand woven materials. In Milas’ Çomakdağ region in the village of Kızıldağ there is embroidery made from pure silk that is called "yanış". The yanış is made of bright and strong colour and is used for bags or hanging ornaments.

Wood engraving

There are also good examples of the historically famous Milas wood engraving to be found. The motifs made on the ceilings, eaves and cupboards of house survive to our day.

Carpet Making

Milas is one of the oldest settlements of the Turkomen tribes. The region in its tradition, customs and clothing has retained that characteristic. In the Milas area carpets unique to the region are woven. It is believed that the carpet making tradition in the region began with the making of prayer mats in the 16th century. The 18th and 19th century carpets from the region are classical (traditional) in their pattern and colour and Baroque in style

The classical types of Milas prayer mats are in the pattern of a prayer niche. The shape of the niche design is an equilateral rectangle. On the top of the niche there is a pattern representing a peak of a minaret and on the inner sides there are stylised plants figures. You see motifs that do not have contours.

The Ada Milas carpet is one of the oldest examples of Milas carpets. It has side patterns in lines next to each other. In each column the pattern is generally repeated. The carpets that are described as being in the baroque style were produced in the time of Sultan Abdülmecit, when there was the heavy influence of Europe on Ottoman arts and architecture. These carpets are marked with zigzag lines rather than straight ones and with a flower pattern on the sides. It took its name from the stylised pattern of a bouquet of carnations that was placed on one branch.

One other group of carpets in Milas are the ones with medallions. These carpets are in various shapes of rectangle, square and hexagon. The Karacahisar Halısı is among this group, which are produced in the village of Karacahisar.

In the making of Milas carpets pure wool was used since the 18th and 19th centuries. The carpets are coloured with natural dyes and root dyes. These types of carpets are still being woven in places such as Karacahisar, Ören, Dörttepe, Gereme, Bozalan, İkizköy, Pınarköy, Mezgit, Gürceğiz, Akçakaya and many other villages.

Car Repair Shops

If you require maintenance or repair work on your vehicle the place to have it done is in the region is Milas. You can even find an open repair shop on Sundays, along with the necessary parts.

The tours to the vicinity

The Handcraft and Carpet Villages Tour: You can visit the villages of Bozalan and Karacahisar and see how the carpets that are named after the villages are made. Those who want to buy a handmade carpet can find pieces that are reasonable priced.

The Culture Tour: The Milas town and its environs, apart from the activities listed above, is rich in respect to historical sites. As day trips you can visit Milas, Labranda, Euromos (Ayaklı), Herakleai (Kapıkırı), Iasos (Kıyıkışlacık), Beçin Castle and Keramos (Ören).

The Village Breakfast and Nature Walk Tour: You can talk walking tours around Lake Bafa and its surroundings. There are travel agencies that also organise these tours. A walk over the ancient city of Herakleai will take you back to olden times during this tour.

The Traditional Çomakdağ Houses and Local Weddings: The villages of İkiztaş, Kızılağaç and Ketendere on Çomakdağ Mountain are known as the Çomakdağ villages. It is worth seeing the stone houses and traditional clothing of the locals here. The engraved woodwork of the houses is still evident. The colourful woodwork on the ceilings, doors and cupboards are of real artistic value. Moreover, with their particularly unique wedding celebrations in summer many foreigners are attracted to the villages in this season.

Paragliding at Ören: The take off point for paragliding is on the 640 metre high Kocadağ and is open year round. To get to the point by vehicle takes about 20 minutes. The current produced in hot weather flows in one direction and is strong, minimising any risk of accident. The current lifts up the paraglider from the take off point and raises them into the air. Thanks to this current, you can land back at the same place you took off from, which does not happen at other paragliding mountain sites around the world. There is the chance to stay in the air for seven to eight hours due to the regular hot currents at Koacadağ. Experts from the Ege University provide you with the opportunity if you want it. In order to take this chance you have to make contacts through the Ören Municipality. Since there is no regular paragliding teams set up in Ören as yet they come down from İzmir as required.

Trekking Trails

Near Milas the best places to enjoy walking tours are around Lake Bafa and Ören. In Ören, going from Alatepe where the paragliding take offs are done, you can walk to the ancient city of Ören Yalısı via the ancient road. The route is marked by red painted marks but the trail has been made official.

In the Lake Bafa area you can walk to the hill where there is a monastery but it involves camping overnight. However, at Lake Bafa there are no officially set walking trails. For this walk you can make arrangements through a travel agency.

Festivals

Every year in the first week of September there is the traditional Milas Festival.

Picnic Grounds

The Beypınarı picnic ground is always a good spot for a picnic. There are also are trout restaurants in the area.

Folklore

Traditional Dances:

The most common dance in the region is the Zeybek, which is unique to the area. It is a slow motion dance, with an emphasis on arm and leg movements and is mainly performed by men. Some of the versions of the Zeybek are called Kerimoğlu, Çökterme, Keklik, Muğla Zeybeği and the Cavur Asarın Yolları.