Valyria

Valyria, also called Old Valyria, is a ruined city in Essos. It is a long-dead city of wonderment and was once the capital of a great empire called the Valyrian Freehold. It was destroyed by a cataclysmic event known as the Doom of Valyria. It is the ancestral home of House Targaryen and House Velaryon

Location
Valyria was located on a peninsula of the same name extending into the Summer Sea. The Doom of Valyria shattered the peninsula, separating the city of Valyria from the Lands of the Long Summer by the Smoking Sea. The city of Valyria lies at the centre of the largest surviving island, surrounded by cliffs where the island has broken away from the mainland. Valyria was connected by dragon roads to surrounding cities, such as Tyria

Architeture
Valyria is said to have had topless towers and used sphinxes as decorations.

Culture
A common racial characteristic among Valyrians appears to have been purple eyes and hair of silver-gold or platinum white. Valyria is said to still hold many treasures from before the Doom, such as Valyrian steel blades and items of magical power. It is said that the glass candles of Oldtown were brought there from Valyria a thousand years before the Doom.

History
Valyria was ruled by its dragonlords, led by two score rival houses that contested for power. House Targaryen, however, was not considered a powerful house. At times the lord's freeholder elected archons for temporary leadership. The Valyrians' empire, the Valyrian Freehold, first conquered the Old Empire of Ghis to the east across Slaver's Bay, as well as the Ghiscari colonies in the Basilisk Isles and Sothoryos. Seeking slaves for Valyrian mines, they then conquered and established colonies to the west and north after defeating the Andals and the Rhoynar in Essos. Four hundred years ago, however, Valyria and its peninsula were shattered by the Doom. The dragonlord Aurion declared himself Emperor of Valyria, but he and his host disappeared while trying to reclaim the city.