Much of Alinda's ancient ruins date from the 4th century BC, especially the reigns of Mausolos and Ada. The sister and successor of Mausolos resided in Alinda from 340 BC, after being driven out of Halicarnassus by her younger brother Pixodaros.

When Alexander the Great came to Caria on his campaign in 334 B.C., she handed Alinda over to him and offered him adoption. He succeeded the Carian rulers and appointed Ada as Queen of Caria after the conquest of Halicarnassus.
Alinda was also inhabited in the Byzantine period and bishop's seat, which lives on as the titular bishopric of Alinda of the Roman Catholic Church. A presumed identity with the Hittite Ijalanda is not proven.

The most striking building is the 90 metre long, completely preserved substructure of the former market building below the Agora. The divided cellars can be accessed from the valley side at ground level, the ground floor from the agora. Supports in the outer wall and several pillars occupy an earlier upper floor.

Further up the slope is the well preserved theatre, on the uppermost plateau the foundations of a small temple.

The Theatre

The ancient city of Alinda is situated on two hills above the present village of Karpuzlu.
From Milas you can reach Karpuzlu, or Alinda through the mountains, past the ancient cult site Labranda. This road, which was certainly good to drive on just a few years ago, is in such a bad condition that it could no longer be driven on in a normal car in September 2015. Huge dump trucks have turned the scenic public road into a huge feldspar mining area with deep holes and no less deep ruts.

Only the access via Çine and Doganyurt (Labranda) and another road from the national road D550, 7 km north of Çine, are in a good condition to drive on.