Smyrna, modern Izmir, was a Greek city dating back to antiquity located at a central and strategic point on the Aegean coast of Anatolia. Old Smyrna was the initial settlement founded around the 11th century BC, first as an Aeolian settlement, and later taken over and developed during the Archaic Period by the Ionians. The core of the late Hellenistic and early Roman Smyrna is preserved in the large area of İzmir Agora Open Air Museum in the city of Izmir. In early Christian times, the city was home to a significant Christian church, mentioned as one of the seven Churches of the Book of Revelation.