Sardis: The City of Croesus and Alexander the Great - Google Arts & Culture (2024)

Lydian Boat VaseThe Directorate General of Cultural Assets and Museums of Türkiye

Sardis was a leading city in the ancient world.

During the Iron Age (around 1000 to 550 BC), it was the capital and only city of the Lydians, a native people of Anatolia.

Gold Coin, Kingdom of Lydia - Croesus period (561-546 BC)The Directorate General of Cultural Assets and Museums of Türkiye

Lydians invented coinage, a new technology that was quickly adopted by their neighbors and revolutionized the global economy.

Lydian Fortification (Sardis)The Directorate General of Cultural Assets and Museums of Türkiye

The Lydian kings developed their capital city of Sardis on a series of monumental terraces, creating a unique urban plan.

They also protected the city with a 20-meter-thick fortification wall, the largest in Anatolia.

Bin Tepe with Sardis in BackgroundThe Directorate General of Cultural Assets and Museums of Türkiye

The elite tumulus cemetery at Bintepe, located across the Hermos (Gediz) River valley, is the largest tumulus cemetery in Anatolia.

Alyattes (Sardis)The Directorate General of Cultural Assets and Museums of Türkiye

Three of the tumuli at Bintepe are wider than the Great Pyramid of Giza.

The largest of these, the tumulus of Alyattes, so impressed the Greek historian Herodotus a century later that he called it "the greatest structure ever built, apart from those of the Egyptians and Babylonians."

Onyx Pendant on Gold Wire (Lydian)The Directorate General of Cultural Assets and Museums of Türkiye

The Lydians were renowned for their exquisite craftsmanship in ivory, gold, fabrics, and other luxurious materials, but few examples of these works have survived at Sardis.

Lydian Pottery (Manisa Museum)The Directorate General of Cultural Assets and Museums of Türkiye

The Lydians' pottery, marble sculpture, and other arts and crafts testify to their sophistication.

Golden Ring (Manisa Museum)The Directorate General of Cultural Assets and Museums of Türkiye

After the Persians conquered the Lydians in 547 BC, Sardis became the capital of a satrapy, a province of the Persian Empire.

The Temple of Artemis (Sardis)The Directorate General of Cultural Assets and Museums of Türkiye

Under Alexander the Great and the Hellenistic kings, the native Anatolian capital became a polis by Greek institutions such as a theater, representative government and the Temple of Artemis, one of the largest Ionic temples in the world.

However, The Temple of Artemis was never completed.

Gymnasium (Sardis)The Directorate General of Cultural Assets and Museums of Türkiye

The Sardians adopted Roman customs, such as public bathing, and built a massive Bath-Gymnasium complex just outside the city.

Details from Gymnasium (Sardis)The Directorate General of Cultural Assets and Museums of Türkiye

Details of the Gymnasium

Synagogue (Sardis)The Directorate General of Cultural Assets and Museums of Türkiye

A section of the Bath-Gymnasium complex was later converted into a synagogue, which became the largest synagogue in the ancient world.

Acropolis (Sardis)The Directorate General of Cultural Assets and Museums of Türkiye

Like many other ancient cities, Sardis was destroyed by an earthquake in the late Roman period. The city's inhabitants then moved to the Acropolis, the highest point in Sardis.

The Acropolis was refortified with massive Byzantine walls, which are still among the most impressive ruins at the ancient site.

Click here to read more on Türkiye's archeological sites: Sagalassos.

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The Excavation Directorate of Sardis

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Sardis: The City of Croesus and Alexander the Great - Google Arts & Culture (2024)

FAQs

What was the city of Sardis famous for? ›

Sardis houses one of the largest Ionic temples in the world, arguably the most picturesque Ionic temple surviving today. Its well-preserved Roman buildings include a monumental bath-gymnasium building and the largest synagogue of the ancient world.

What was the culture of Sardis? ›

Sardis
TypeSettlement
History
FoundedSettled by 1500 BC, major city by 600 BC
AbandonedAround 1402 AD
CulturesSeha River Land, Lydian, Greek, Persian, Roman, Byzantine
14 more rows

Does the city of Sardis still exist? ›

Destroyed by an earthquake in 17 ce, the city was rebuilt and remained one of the great cities of Anatolia until the later Byzantine period. It was obliterated in 1402 by the Mongol Timur (Tamerlane). Its ruins include the ancient Lydian citadel and about 1,000 Lydian graves.

Why is Sardis important to history? ›

Under the Achaemenid Persians (547 - 334 BC), Sardis was the capital of a major satrapy (province) of Asia Minor, and the mustering-point for the invasions of Greece under the Great Kings Darius and Xerxes. Many of the known tombs date to this period (figs.

What kind of city was Sardis in the Bible? ›

Under Persian rule, Sardis became the capital of a satrapy (province) and was the most important Persian city in Asia Minor. Sardis became the western terminus of the Royal Road connecting Asia Minor to the capital city of Susa in Persia.

What did the church in Sardis do wrong? ›

Where did the church at Sardis go wrong? It was a church of the living dead. The church was a bastion of dead orthodoxy and a beehive of religious mediocrity. Its spiritual condition was made worse by the fact that, on the surface, it seemed to be spiritually alive.

Why is Sardis famous? ›

Sardi's is the birthplace of the Tony Award; after Antoinette Perry's death in 1946, her partner, theatrical producer and director Brock Pemberton, was eating lunch at Sardi's when he came up with the idea of a theater award to be given in Perry's honor.

What is the significance of Sardis? ›

Sardis not only represents "those escaping" or "that which "remains" after the great apostasy and terrible persecutions of the Middle Ages, but some authorities believe that the word Sardis means "remnant" or "an escaped few," and therefore represents Protestantism after what was vital in it had evaporated so that ...

What is the sin of Sardis? ›

Hypocrisy, and lamentable decay in religion, are sins charged upon Sardis, by One who knew that church well, and all her works. Outward things appeared well to men, but there was only the form of godliness, not the power; a name to live, not a principle of life.

What is the meaning of the word Sardis? ›

Definitions of Sardis. noun. an ancient Greek city located in the western part of what is now modern Turkey; as the capital of Lydia it was the cultural center of Asia Minor; destroyed by Tamerlane in 1402. example of: city, metropolis, urban center.

Are the 7 churches in Revelation still there? ›

Today, though some remnants of these ancient cities and their churches remain, others have merged with the modern Turkish cities that now dot the landscape. According to legend, the 7 churches were all on a well-worn trade route, each church received a specific message, to be delivered to the congregation.

Who is the angel of the church in Sardis? ›

3:1-3), while other sources regard Melito himself as the "apostle" or "angel of the church of Sardis." In the Book of Revelation, Saint John writes a letter to the church of Sardis, reproaching it and its bishop.

Why was Sardis abandoned? ›

Because of its natural fortification and rich military history, Croesus, King of the Lydians, felt that his city could never fall. It was this overconfidence that led to the overthrow of the city by the Persians under Cyrus the Great in 549 BC. The story of the overthrow of Sardis is fascinating.

When did Alexander the Great conquer Sardis? ›

Persian rule ended in 334 B.C., when Sardis surrendered to Alexander the Great. However, the archaeological record has revealed the impact of Greek and other cultures from as early as the Archaic period, long before the conquest of Anatolia by Alexander.

How did Sardis fall? ›

According to Herodotus, the city ultimately fell by the agency of a Persian soldier, who climbed up a section of the walls that was neither adequately garrisoned nor protected by the ancient rites, which had dedicated the rest of the cities' defenses to impregnability.

What is the story of Sardis? ›

Sardis was the key to conquering the Lydians and it was also key to Lydia retaining and advancing its power. Sardis became cemented as somewhat of a legend among Ancient Greece. It was ridiculously wealthy, in fact, coinage was first minted by the Lydians, and it was impregnable.

What happened at Sardis? ›

The defeat of King Croesus of Lydia by Persian ruler Cyrus II at Sardis was a major step forward in the rise of the Persian Empire. The victory was achieved against heavy odds through Cyrus's calm resourcefulness, the discipline of his men, and a remarkable use of camels as both a martial and an olfactory deterrent.

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