The Kocaaliler, formerly called Melli, inherited the name given to that region by ancient cultures that lived before them, like many modern-day Anatolian settlements. The name Melli, which is thought to have evolved from “Millias” in terms of etymology, has been preserved until recently. It is located in Kocaaliler, a town connected to Bucak, which is the largest district of Burdur, 30 km from the center of Bucak. It is 50 km from the center of Antalya.
The road from Bucak to Kocaaliler is surrounded by natural forests consisting of huge red pine trees. Along the way, you can see the Ottoman water cisterns, which are frequently encountered in the region, as well as there are many points where you might want to stop. During our break next to one of these cisterns, we also saw the traces of an ancient path.
In addition to the known important settlements such as Selge, Termessos, Sagalassos, Kremna, Adada, Antiocheia, the Pisidia region also hosts dozens of archaeological sites where scientific research is done less and therefore there are not many scientific sources about it.
One of these settlements, Milias, like many Pisidian cities, is located at high altitude and in a position that dominates its surroundings, and watches over the Aksu Stream valley, which is called Kestros in the ancient geography. Unfortunately, we do not have a solid source about Millias. However, as stated in several sources we researched, "Millias" or any of its derivatives were not found in any inscription found in the city, and it was stated that the name of the city was determined based on the old name of the Kocaaliler, Melli. In addition to hosting many traveling scientists, the settlement also hosted scientific surveys.
The ancient settlement is located one kilometer east of the modern settlement. Starting from the guardhouse at the entrance of the settlement, the approximately thousand-meter-long path leads through the necropolis of the city and leads you to the center of the ancient settlement. While walking on this beautiful path, which is also ideal for trekking, the magnificent view of Aksu Valley and the Taurus Mountains will accompany you. Unfortunately, two different tombs or sanctuaries, one in the form of a sarcophagus and one in the form of a facade, carved into the rocks on the path, unfortunately, have had their share of treasure hunter barbarism. Unfortunately, we could not go to the water cistern, which was noticed from afar and was on the left of the path on the way to the city, because we could not find the way down.
The ancient city of Milias, which was inhabited during the Hellenistic and Roman periods, is surrounded by steep cliffs. There are walls at the points where the cliff is weak to protect the city.
In the city center, which starts after the necropolis, there will be a small temple with an antis(?) plan that welcomes you first. There are many ruins of buildings in the surrounding area. Most of the buildings (including the theater) were built with support from the bedrock. Among these structures, the theater and the public building in front of it are attractive points among the ruins. The theater of the Ancient City of Milias has a privileged place among Anatolian theaters with its view. The stage building of the theater, whose cavea, that is, the audience cove, was carved into the bedrock, is in a very ruined condition. The public building, which is located between the Agora and the theater and gives the impression that the theater is the stage building at first glance, is the strongest structure in the city. We have no information about the function of the building, which is referred to as the "market building" in one source. The stele and inscribed monumental piers in the completely ruined agora right in front of the public building will catch your eye. In addition to many damaged buildings in the city, one of the structures whose function can be understood is the cisterns to the south of the theater. We can associate the reason why there are so many water cisterns in the city with the fact that there is no water source in the immediate vicinity. We could not have an idea about the function of any of the buildings that started from these cisterns we mentioned, looked like they were lined up around a street, and were in a very ruined condition. To the west of the theater is a monumental staircase, perhaps a monumental entrance. The architectural pieces around this building, whose height quota is considerably lower than the theatre, confirm the existence of a monumental building. Stairs descending from this monumental building towards the forest indicate that this building is a monumental entrance gate.
Milias Ancient City or Milyos Ancient City It is on the Taurus Mountains within the borders of the town of Kocaaliler, in the town of Bucak. The east, west and south of the city, which was settled in the Hellenistic and Roman Periods, is surrounded by steep, difficult to climb cliffs. Walls were also built in the spaces between the rocks. The city's Necropolis is outside the city walls and in the north. Most of the houses were built by cutting the bedrock. It has a small theater built into the bedrock. The tomb monuments were razed to the ground and the bottoms of the walls were excavated. The condition of the structures shows that the history of Milias descended until the 5th-4th centuries BC. The original name of the city in this region, known as Milias, has not been found yet. The structures that can be seen today are the Cisterns, Agora, and Theater structures.
