Milas carpets and rugs (also Milâs or Melas) are Turkish carpets and rugs that bear characteristics proper to the district of Milas in Muğla Province in southwestern Turkey. There are also a number of variants within the definition of Milas carpets. These variants are called under such names as Ada Milas, Patlıcanlı, Cıngıllı Cafer, Gemisuyu, and Elikoynunda, depending on the style, colors and other characteristics. Milas region and the Türkmen tradition Milas is one of the regions in Turkey whose inhabitants kept their Türkmen heritage in its liveliest (the term Türkmen is often used in Turkey to denote ties to the former semi-nomadic lifestyle). As aside clothing and traditions, this heritage also includes the art of carpet weaving. It is generally admitted that a distinctive breed of Milas rugs came into existence in the 16th century starting with the "seccade", prayer rugs which are smaller in dimension. By the 18th century and the 19th century, two types of Milas rugs, traditional (or classical) and baroque, could be distinguished on the basis of their colors and designs. Classical Milas carpets Classical Milas carpets and rugs are those that can be said to have kept the essentials of the original 16th-century prayer rugs, with a usually rectangular niche ("mihrâb") in their fore to indicate the spot where the forehead of the faithful touches the rug at the moment of kneeling during the prayer. The inner frame of this niche is garnished with plant motifs and above the niche is a specially designed field called âlem, with references to heavenly promises. The type called "Ada Milas" is one of the oldest examples of classical Milas rugs. The name may have derived, according to different versions, from the queen Ada of Caria, a native of this very region and a contemporary of Alexander the Great, or from a hypothesis according to which this type of rugs was first woven by immigrants from the island of İstanköy (Cos), "ada" meaning "island" in Turkish, or from the stylized carnation bouquets (another signification of the word "ada") sometimes depicted as placed on a branch around the rug. Many other such styles, such as cat's paws, soles, notches, always depicted in an abstract manner, exist. These side decorations always follow a repetitive order around the circumference of the rug, and their row is called a "water bed" ("su yatağı"). Milas carpets in Baroque style Baroque style Milas rugs