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Caria (in Turkish — Kariye, and in Greek — Καρία) was a region of the Anatolia situated south of Ionia and west of Phrygia and Lycia. The eponymous inhabitants were known as Carians, and came to Caria before the Greeks. The land was originally called "Phoenicia", because a Phoenician colony settled there in early times. Afterwards it received the name Caria from Kar, a legendary king of the Carians. Independent Caria arose as a "Neo-Hittite" kingdom around the 11th century BC, and was incorporated into the Persian Achaemenid empire as the satrapy in 545 BC. The most important town was Halicarnassus, from where its sovereigns reigned. Other major towns were Heraclea, Antiochia, Myndus, Laodicea, Alinda and Alabanda. The Iliad records that at the time of the Trojan War, the city of Miletus belonged to the Carians, and was allied to the Trojan cause. Mausolus was a satrap of Caria between 377–353 BC. A famous monument at Halicarnassus was dedicated to him by his wife, Artemisia, and became one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World. Caria was conquered by Alexander in 334 BC.
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