Caria was a region of western Anatolia extending along the coast from mid-Ionia south to Lycia and east to Phrygia. It was the land of the Cares, an ancient Asia Minor people, who appeared in Anatolia 3500 years ago, when the Hittites reigned. Homer mentions them as allies of the Trojans and calls them "barbarians", although of all the ancient Asia Minor races they were the most Hellenized and Herodotus considered them descendants of the Minoans.
The Carian cities of Tralleis, Miletos, Mylasa, Halicarnassus, Knidos, Iasos, Alavanda, Kaunos and Karyanda are said to have participated in the Alliance of Delos. Other cities of Caria were Keramos of Caria, Stratonikeia of Caria which was founded by the Seleucids, Alexandria in Latmos. Near the Meander River were Arpasa and Antioch ad Maeandrum, while near the border with Phrygia was Aphrodisias, the Roman capital of Caria, founded by the Leleges, relatives of the Cares, with earlier names "Ninoe" or "Lelegon Polis".
In Caria was one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World, the Mausoleum of Halicarnassus, the burial monument of Mausolus, satrap of Caria, which unfortunately was completely destroyed by the Knights of John in the 16th century. Another well-known work, the Aphrodite of Knidos by Praxiteles, is considered to be the most beautiful and famous statue of the goddess and was located in the circular temple of Aphrodite in Knidos.
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