Sardis

Sardis was once the capital of the wealthy Lydian kingdom that dominated much of the Aegean before the Persians came along. The ruins of Sardis lie 90km east of the city of Izmir and make a particularly worthwhile excursion destination. Sardis was near the Pactolus River, which carried specks of gold that the Lydians collected with fleece sieves. Coinage seems to have been invented here, hence the phrase ‘rich as Croesus”. Croesus (560-546 BC) was a King of Lydia and the Greeks presumably thought him abnormally rich because he could store so much wealth in his seemingly bottomless pockets rather than in the form of vast estates and far-ranging herds of livestock. Sardis became a great trade center because its coinage facilitated the trade.

After the Persians, Alexander the Great took the city in 334 BC and embellished it even more. Unfortunately, an earthquake brought down its fine buildings in 17 AD, but it was rebuilt by Tiberius and developed into a thriving provincial Roman town. The visible ruins of Sardis are scattered around the village of Sart (Sartmustafa) in a valley overshadowed by a strikingly craggy mountain range. The new highway from Izmir to Ankara whips north of Sart, restoring serenity to the area. The two main groups of ruins are: Main Site and Temple of Artemis. To the first group belong a Roman road, well-preserved Byzantine latrine and shops, the havra (synagogue) and the striking two-storey building called the Marble Court of the Hall of the Imperial Cult. The most impressive of the second group of ruins is the Temple of Artemis of which only a few columns are left.