Aliphera (Greece)

Aliphera was an ancient Greek city in the Parrhasia district of Arcadia, on a steep hill about 8 kilometers south of the Alpheius river, at the site of the modern village of Alifeira. It was a member of the Arcadian League and, according to tradition, was founded by Alipherus, son of Lycaon; many of its people relocated when Megalopolis was founded in 371 BC. The city passed to the Eleans in 224 BC, was captured by Philip V of Macedon during the Social War in 219 BC, was restored to Megalopolis, and later joined the Achaean League and minted its own coins. It held temples to Asclepius and Athena, including a celebrated bronze statue of Athena by the sculptor Hypatodorus, and excavations begun in 1932 by Anastasios Orlandos uncovered its temples, acropolis and cemetery walls.