Muğla (pronounced moo-lah) is an inland city in Southern Aegean, Turkey.
Understand
Muğla is a pleasant city on the side of a mountain, with a population of 61,000. It has the charm of a typical inland Aegean town, and is fairly close to (and is the administrative centre of) the resort towns popular with international travellers (Bodrum, Marmaris, Fethiye). Nonetheless, travellers often overlook Muğla.
Muğla lies on an elevation of 670 m, and as such its significantly cooler climate is a welcome retreat from hot and sticky conditions of the coast. Mugla is 20 km inland.
The province is stretched along Turkey's Aegean coast has several famous holiday resorts drawing large numbers of tourists. Mugla is well connected by road to all parts of Turkey. You will have to take mini buses to travel to places off the main highways and to remoter outlying regions. Muğla has a terrestrial climate which is effected by the Mediterranean climate, hot and dry in summer time and warm and rainy in winter time. The average annual temperature is 14.9°C.
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Get in
By plane
Nearest airports are in Bodrum (BJV IATA) to west, and Dalaman (DLM IATA) to south, both of which are around an hour away from Muğla. Both welcome domestic and international flights, especially from Europe.
By car
- From Izmir, take the motorway south to Aydın, then hit D550 there.
- From Bodrum, take D330 east to Milas, and Yatağan, and then take southwards D550.
- From Marmaris, take D400 north to Akyaka/Gökova, and then hit D550.
- From Denizli, take D330 westwards.
Get around
See
- Vakıflar Hamamı. An operating Turkish bath which dates back to 1258.
- 1 Great Mosque of Muğla (Ulu Cami). Large mosque built in 1344 by the Beys of Menteşe.
- 2 Kurşunlu Cami. Large mosque built in 1495.
- Konakaltı Han and Yağcılar Han. Restored 18th-century caravanserais, the first used as an art gallery and facing Muğla Museum, and the second used for more commercial purposes.
- The Ottoman Empire-era bazaar (Arasta). Marked by a clock tower built by a Greek craftsman named Filivari Usta in 1895.
- 3 Muğla Museum, Müştakbey Mah. Eski Postane Cad., ☏ 90252 214 6948. Muğla City Museum has a good collection of archaeological and ethnographical artefacts, as well as 9-million-year-old animal and plant fossils discovered in Kaklıcatepe nearby.
- The old quarter of Muğla. On the slopes and around Saburhane Square (Meydanı), consisting of about 400 registered old houses dating from the 18th and 19th centuries, many of which are restored. These houses are mainly in the Turkish/Ottoman style, characterized by hayat ("courtyard") sections accessed through double-shuttered doors called kuzulu kapı ("lamb doors") and dotted with chimneys typical of Muğla. But there are also a number of "Greek" houses. The differences between the two types of houses may have as much to do with the extent to which wood or stone were used in their architecture, and whether they were arranged in intraverted or extraverted styles, as with who inhabited them previously. Local students tend to hang out in open air cafés along the İzmir highway or in the caravanserai or in Sanat Evi ("Art House"), an Ottoman style residence that has been turned into a café/art gallery exhibiting principally wood carvings.
Do
Buy
Eat
- [dead link]Süpüroğlu, Orhaniye Mah.Süpüroğlu Mevki Karabağlar Yaylası No:56, ☏ 90252 217 6565, ✉[email protected]. 09:00-24:00. Local meat meals ££.
- Meyzen Ocakbaşı, Pabuçcular sok.arasta-şadırvan (Saatli kule caddesi pabuççular sokak), ☏ 90533 479 7786. 11:00-24:00. Turkish Meat Restaurant ££.
- Du Buyon, Mustafa Muğlalı Caddesi. 10:00-24:00. Local foods ££.
- Köfteci Kemal, Şeyh Mah. Kurşunlu Camii Karşısı Otopark Girişi No:4/4, ☏ 90252 2129410. 11:00-15:00. Local meatballs ££.
- Arabacı Restaurant Mabolla, Emirbeyazıt mah. Turgut reis cd. No:14, ☏ 902522130220. Fish and meat ££.
Drink
Sleep
Connect
Telephone code of Muğla is ( 90) 252.
Go next
Many famous resort towns of Turkish coast (Southern Aegean/Western Mediterranean) are within a radius of 100 km from Muğla:
- Bodrum — partying capital of Turkey, which also features a well-preserved citadel
- Akyaka — village with beautiful traditional architecture just south of Muğla, on the coast
- Marmaris — daily yacht trips along a mountainous coastline
- Dalyan — rock-cut ancient tombs, boat trips through marshlands, and a sandy beach where Mediterranean turtles lay their eggs
- Fethiye — a gulf backed by mountains dotted by Lycian ruins; postcard beauty of Blue Lagoon is also nearby