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Sardis was the capital of the Lydian kingdom. The site lies near the Sart quarter in the Salihli district of Manisa, nine kilometres from the centre of Salihli and eighty-two from İzmir, spread along both sides of the İzmir-Ankara road. It was founded around 1300 BC and destroyed in AD 1200.
The city was laid out on and around a hill at the northern foot of Mount Bozdağ, ancient Tmolos, in the valley of the Pactolus stream on the Gediz plain. Its acropolis stands four hundred metres above the plain. Sardis has been inhabited for at least three and a half thousand years, and across that span it moved back and forth between a wealthy city of international standing and a cluster of modest villages.
Herodotus relates a legend that the city was founded by the Heraclids, the sons of Heracles. By his account the Heraclids ruled for five hundred and five years, beginning with Agron in 1220 BC and ending with Candaules in 716 BC. They were followed by the Mermnads, who began with Gyges in 716 BC and ended with Croesus in 546 BC.
