Madurai is among the oldest continuously inhabited city in the Indian peninsula. It is an ancient and prestigious city in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu.Madurai's cultural heritage goes back 2,500 years, and the city has been an important commercial center and has conducted trade as far as Rome and Greece since as early as 550 BCE. It is known as the "city of festivals and temples".The Sri Meenakshi Sundareswara temple and Madurai City originated together. The structures that are standing today date mostly from the twelfth to the eighteenth century. They occupy a vast space, 258-m by 241m. There are the two main shrines, no less than twelve Gopuras, a pool and innumerable Mandapas. At every turn there is superb sculpture, magnificent architecture.