The site of Ancient Corinth was first inhabited in the Neolithic period (5000-3000 B.C.). The peak period of the town, though, started in the 8th century B.C. and lasted until its destruction by the Roman general Mummius in 146 B.C. Representative of its wealth is the Doric temple of Apollo which was built in 550 B.C. The city was reinhabited in 44 B.C. and gradually developed again. In 51/52 A.D., Apostle Paul visited Corinth. The centre of the Roman city was organized to the south of the temple of Apollo and included shops, small shrines, fountains, baths and other public buildings. The invasion of the Herulians in A.D. 267 , initiated the decline of the city though it remained inhabited for many centuries through successive invasions and destructions, until it was liberated from the Turks in 1822.  Limited excavations were conducted in 1892 and 1906 by the Archaeological Society of Athens under the direction of A. Skias. The systematic excavations of the area, initiated by the American School of Classical Studies in 1896, are still continuing today and have brought to light the agora, temples, fountains, shops, porticoes, baths and various other monuments. The investigations extended also to the fortress on Acrocorinthos, the prehistoric settlements, the Theatre, the Odeion, the Asklepeion, the cemeteries, the Quarter of the Potters, and other buildings outside the main archaeological site.