[1] The city commands a region with an active economy and is very rich in history and ancient remains, the territory of Milas containing a remarkable twenty-seven archaeological sites of note.

[5] Milas is focused on agricultural and aquacultural processing, related industrial activities, services, transportation (particularly since the opening of Milas–Bodrum Airport), tourism and culture.

Milas center is situated on a fertile plain at the foot of Mount Sodra, on and around which sizable quarries of white marble are found and have been used since very ancient times.

[7] 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.

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.

The Hecatomnids, the dynasty founded by Hecatomnus, were officially satraps of the Persian Empire but Greek in language and culture, as their inscriptions and coins witness.

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.

At the time of Strabo (the first century BCE), the city boasted two remarkable orators, Euthydemos (in Greek Εὐθύδημος) and Hybreas (Ὑβρέας), whose relationship gave rise to the adage "necessary evil".

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.

The administrative center of his descendants was the castle of Beçin located in the contemporary dependant township of the same name at a distance of 5 km (3 mi) from Milas and which was easier to defend.

However, just twelve years later, Tamerlane and his forces overcame the Ottomans in the Battle of Ankara, and returned control of this region to its former rulers, the Menteşe Beys, as he did for other Anatolian beyliks.

At the turn of the twentieth century, according to 1912 figures, Milas' urban center had a population of 9,000, of whom some 2,900 were Greek, a thousand or so Jewish, and the remaining majority were Turkish.

The fortress has been restored in 1974, and the compound includes two mosques, two medreses, a hamam, the remains of a Byzantine chapel as well as traces from earlier periods.

The ruins, including a temple, banqueting halls and tombs, were excavated by a Swedish team in early 20th century, as well as the views over the valley, attract the interest of rather few adventurous visitors prepared for the climb.