2-368-532 - Samuel Magal/Sites & Photos/Heritage Images

The Portico of Tiberius, Aphrodisias, Turkey. The south portico at the Agora in Aphrodisias is known as the Portico of Tiberius. The construction of the portico started during the reign of Tiberius and was therefore named after him. The Ionic colonnade has been restored partly. There is a huge pool at the centre of the portico, 175 m long, 25 m wide and 1 m deep and has two semicircular extremities at the north and east ends. Built near a marble quarry in Anatolia, the city of Aphrodisias was once famed for its famous sculpture school and for being one of the several cities that was dedicated to Aphrodite, the goddess of love. It was named after Aphrodite in the second century BC, but according to the Suda, before being known as Aphrodisias, it had three previous names: Lelegon Polis, Megale Polis and Ninoë, a name derived from Ninos. Ninos was the mythical founder of the Assyro-Babylonian Empire and the husband of the famous Semiramis. The city was later renamed as Stauropolis in the Cristian Era.