Labranda was a sacred area in the mountains north of Milas and was the pilgrimage site of the Carians. Labranda, covered with pine forests and having delicious spring water, was on the Mylasa - Alabanda road, and while being a pilgrimage and visitation site with its grove covered with sacred plane trees and its temple, it was also a lodging place.

Labranda was reached by a marble road starting at Baltali Gate in Mylasa, paved with marble blocks, with a width reaching 5 meters in places. The marble road was built to transport quality Sodra Mountain marbles to Labranda. Since the religious processions going from Mylasa to the temple also used the same road, this road was called the "sacred road."

With the "..nda" suffix in its name, Labranda is one of the ancient Anatolian place names most commonly found in Caria and Lycia. Labranda; labyrinth and labrys, meaning double-headed axe, come from the same root. Today it is generally believed that Labranda and labyrinth mean the place where the labrys is kept. The historian Plutarch, who lived in the 2nd century AD, writes that labrys is a Lydian word.

When the Carians were defeated by the Persians at the Marsyas River in the Ionian revolt, they retreated to the plane grove in Labranda and lost the second battle they fought on this mountain. In the 2nd century BC, the people living in Labranda, just like in the Sinuri temple in Kalınağıl, were incorporated into the political structure of Mylasa.

Labranda witnessed a great construction in the 4th century BC, during the time of the Carian satraps. Maussollos (377 - 352 BC) first had retaining walls built for the new and enlarged terraces. At the same time, he had a road paved with marble blocks built to transport quality white marbles from Sodra Mountain to Labranda. Maussollos later had a stoa and a large building (andron) for sacred feasts constructed. In 355/354 BC, during the annual sacrifice festivals in Labranda, Maussollos was subjected to an assassination attempt. While Maussollos escaped at the last moment, the assassin Manitas was killed on the spot. The property of his friend and supporter Thyssos was confiscated and its revenues were transferred to Maussollos. Maussollos died in 352 before the construction of the temple was completed. His brother Idrieus (351 - 344 BC) completed the new Zeus temple. He also had a second feast house (andron) constructed. He had the southern propylon, which was the entrance gate, and the Doric Building, thought to be a fountain structure next to it, constructed. Labranda showed great development during the period of the sons of Hekatomnos.

In Labranda, priests, their families, temple servants and slaves, workers who maintained and repaired sacred structures, those who leased the sacred area lands and collected olives there, and those who grew various agricultural products lived permanently and settled. Thousands of people participated in the annual sacrifice festivals. While musicians played and sang at the festivals, athletes also participated in competitions.

Archaeological excavations in Labranda were first started by Swedish archaeologists in 1948. The excavation of the Zeus temple was completed in the 1949 and 1950 excavations. The excavations, which were interrupted from time to time, are still being continued by Swedish archaeologists.