Beçin is a medieval city situated on the slope of a plateau, rising steeply to a height of 200 meters, 5 km. to the south of Milas. It was founded during the Menteşeoğulları reign and was not a significant centre in the ancient and the Byzantine periods.
However, the walls of the Beçin fortress were constructed with reused material from ruins dating back to antique ages. The wall on the right of the interior gate of the fortress is erected on the marble crepis with six steps of a temple.
The name of the city is recorded as "Pezona" in medieval Italian sources, as "Barçın" in Turkish and Islamic texts and as "Peçin" in later scriptures. The present-day pronunciation is Beçin. In Evliya Çelebis travels during the 17th century, Bevin was a town under the jurisdiction of Milas, with 20 houses built within the fortress. There were warden and 20 guards at the fortress which was then used as a prison.
The Beçin site is comprised of a fortress over a round, steep rock on the slope of the plateau and of a settlement surrounded by a 1.5 m. thick city wall at the south of the fortress. There is a single entrance in the south to the fortress which is surrounded by steep rocky slopes on all the other three sides. The entrance is defended by a high tower and double walls which are partially demolished. Evliya Çelebi mentions a trench of 10 fathoms, which is now filled with earth, and a bridge over the trench with springs. The hidden stairway leading to the caves in the west of the fortress is also buried underground today.
The region was under Turkish jurisdiction in the second half of the 13th century. Menteşe oğulları made Milas their capital at first and then moved the government offices to Beçin which was easier to defend. Beçin remained the capital throughout the rule of Tacettin Ahmet Ghazi. Upon his death, the region was conquered by Beyazid I (the Thunderbolt) when the principal was moved to Balat (Milet).
Of the city, the remains of the interior fortress facing the Milas plains, the city walls of the outer fortress and of the buildings at Kepez and Siğmen have persevered to our day.
