Turkey Guide
The North Aegean
Sardis
The ancient site of Sardis (Sart in Turkish) lies about 65km east of Manisa and is easily reached from there or from İzmir. It's another of those places in Turkey that is so old that it's difficult to separate history from myth. The area was probably inhabited as far back as 1200 BC and was later settled by the Lydians, descended from native Anatolians and Greek invaders. Sardis grew to be incredibly wealthy thanks to the gold that was washed down from the nearby mountains and caught in sheepskins by the locals.
There are two main clusters of ruins, both easily reached on foot from the main road. The first site primarily made up of the gymnasium and synagogue (daily 8am–5pm; 2YTL), lies just north of the road on the eastern edge of the village and includes the Marble Way, a Byzantine shopping street complete with latrines, whose holes and drainage channels are still visible. The various shops are labelled and include a restaurant, an office and a hardware shop. Foundations and low walls with discernible doorways are all that remain, although in some places Greek inscriptions and engraved basins with carved crosses can still be seen.
Almost right next door to the synagogue is the third-century AD gymnasiumand bath complex, the most prominent building in the city, covering five and a half acres. Its Marble Court, the entry from the palaestra to the baths, has been spectacularly restored to its original state when first built in 211 AD. The walls behind the columns would have had marble revetments and the podia would have supported statues, forming a multi-storeyed facade so visually splendid as to suggest that the baths must have been associated with observance of the imperial cult.
From the Sartmustafa village teahouses, a paved track – very poorly marked on the far side of the highway, west of the synagogue – leads 1200m south from the main road to the other main site, the Temple of Artemis (daily 8am–5pm; 2YTL). The temple, once among the four largest in Asia Minor, was built by Croesus, destroyed by Greek raiders during the Ionian revolt and later rebuilt by Alexander the Great. Enough of the foundations are visible to make clear just how large the building, constructed to rival the temples of Ephesus, Samos and Didyma, used to be. More than anything, however, it's the beauty of the setting, enclosed by wooded and vined hills and accented by weird Cappadocia-like pinnacles, that leaves a lasting impression.
Practicalities
Sardis is easily reached by taking the Salihli dolmuş from Manisa – or the Salihli bus from İzmir. The site can also be reached by train: two morning services run from İzmir to Manisa, from where, in turn, there are three services to Salihli. Taking the train is a more relaxed, though slower, way of doing the trip – trains also return to Manisa a bit later (7.15pm) than the dolmuşes. The dolmuş will drop you on the main highway, at the turn-off for Sartmustafa. The train station is 1km to the north, near the tiny hamlet of Sartmahmut.
As accommodation in Manisa is limited, you may prefer to stay instead in Salihili, a market town 8km beyond Sardis on the İzmir– Afyon road. To get out to the site from Salihli, take any of the regular Manisa-bound dolmuşes, which will drop you at the highway turn-off. Salihli's best budget accommodation is at the Hotel Yener, Dede Çelak Sok 7 ( 
0236/712 5003, 
714 1562; Price: Up to €13), just south of the otogar, whose front rooms have showers but may suffer a little from traffic noise, especially on market day (Wednesday). Behind the Yener is the more upmarket Berrak, at Belediye Cad 59 ( 0236/713 1452, 713 1457; Price: €25-31), while the Akgül, clearly visible from the marketplace next to the otogar ( 0236/713 3737, 
www.otelakgul.com ; Price: €14-24), has English-speaking management, rooms with TV and an open-buffet breakfast included. Both places are extremely comfortable.