Aphrodisias

Aphrodisias is an ancient city in the Caria region of southwestern Anatolia, near the modern village of Geyre in Aydın province. Archaeological traces of settlement go back to the Neolithic period, around 5800 BCE, and ancient tradition held that it was first known as Lelegonopolis after its Lelegian founders, later renamed Megalopolis and then Ninoe before taking the name of the goddess Aphrodite, to whom its sanctuary was dedicated. The city flourished under Roman rule from the first to the fifth century AD, after the emperor Augustus granted it autonomy and tax exemption as a mark of favor. Its proximity to marble quarries made it a major center of sculpture, attracting artists who competed there, and the city is still scattered with statuary and carved stonework. Aphrodisias declined after Arab raids, earthquakes, and epidemics, saw a brief revival around the eleventh century, and was finally abandoned after an attack by Tamerlane's forces in 1402.