Anatolia, the cradle of civilization, continues to inspire history

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  • Anatolia, the cradle of civilization, continues to inspire history

Anatolia, the cradle of civilization, continues to inspire history. The ancient city of Sardis, where the world’s first coins were minted, and the Lydian Tumuli of the Bin Tepe(Thousand Hills) have now been added to the UNESCO World Heritage List.
This brings the total number of sites in Turkey on the UNESCO World Heritage List to 22. Located east of Manisa province, the ancient city served as the capital of Lydia thousands of years ago. It is renowned for being the place where the first coins were minted.

The Lydians were renowned for their invention of coinage, their immense wealth, and their distinctive socio-cultural structure. As the first Iron Age state in the region, Sardis became an important centre of power. Sardis also served as the capital of the Lydian Kingdom during the 8th–6th centuries BCE. The city was continuously inhabited for around 3,000 years.

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