Salihli

Sister cities

• Porto Alegre

History

Salihli is a city with a long history. Fossilised footprints discovered near the villages of Sindel and Çarıklar, Manisa are estimated to be between 10,000 and 26,000 years old, and are the first traces of prehistory in the region. However, the region came to foremost importance with the establishment of the city of Sardes, which is located west of Salihli center and where the most remarkable historical artifacts and remains of the region are found. Sardes was the capital city of Lydia until 547 B.C., at which date it was captured by the Persian Empire and governed by satraps until 334 B.C.. After the Persians, the region was governed successively by the Macedonian Empire, the Kingdom of the Attalids, Roman Empire and Byzantine Empire. In the beginning of the 14th century, Turks under the Beylik of Saruhan captured the city and the region and ruled it for a century from their base in nearby Manisa. In 1400 the region passed over to the Ottoman Empire under which Manisa preserved its position as a primary regional center. In the beginning of the Ottoman rule, Salihli was a village of the kaza of Sart, depending the province seat of Aydın, situated more to the south, and was called (meaning 'the children of Salih' in English). In the 19th century, with the construction of İzmir-Uşak-Afyon railway, Salihli demonstrated a much more rapid pace of progress compared to Sart and gained township status in 1872, when it became a kaza of the Sanjak of Saruhan, centred around Manisa. From 1867 until 1922, Salihli was part of the Aidin Vilayet of the Ottoman Empire. During the Greco-Turkish War, the city was taken by Greek forces on 24 July 1920, then re-taken by the Turkish army on 5 September 1922. According to a number of sources, the retreating Greek army carried out a…

Geography

The city of Salihli, which is also the seat of the district, is located on the İzmir-Ankara (E-96) highway, and it's parallel railway connections. The urban centre is situated on the slopes of the Bozdağ mountain chain along the southern alluvial plains of the Gediz River. To the north and northeast of the plain extends two other mountain ranges, Mount Dibek (highest altitude 1120 m) and Mount Üşümüş (highest altitude 1085 m). The town lies at an altitude of 125 meters from sea level. Its advantageous location, smooth and busy intercity connections and the fertile soil allowed Salihli to develop extremely well in the recent past. Four rivers, namely Alaşehir, Gümüş, Kurşunlu and Sart cross the district area to join the River Gediz, which flows westward. The climate type is Mediterranean climate. To the north of the city is Demirköprü Dam, used for irrigation, prevention of overflows, energy production and fishing, and which was built between 1954 and 1960. The population in the 2000 census were 149,150 for the whole district and 83,137 for the urban center of Salihli. (The urban population is 165,182 as of 2023.) The district area is surrounded by the neighboring districts of Ahmetli to the west, Gölmarmara to the northwest, Gördes and Köprübaşı to the north, Demirci to the northeast, Kula to the east, Alaşehir to the southeast and Ödemiş to the south. The distances from Salihli to the seat of neighboring provinces are: {| class="wikitable" |- | in km | Manisa | İzmir | Balıkesir | Uşak | Denizli |- | Salihli | 72 | 96 | 144 | 120 | 110 |} The distances from Salihli to other cities of Manisa are: {| class="wikitable" |- | in km | Alaşehir | Ahmetli | Akhisar | Demirci | Gölmarmara | Gördes | Kula | Köprübaşı | Saruhanlı | Sarıgöl | Selendi | Turgutlu |- |…

Most-observed species

• House Sparrow

  Passer domesticus (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  137
• Eurasian Collared-Dove

  Streptopelia decaocto (Frivaldszky, 1838) · Aves
  123
• Eurasian Jay

  Garrulus glandarius (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  118
• Eurasian Blackbird

  Turdus merula Linnaeus, 1758 · Aves
  116
• Crested Lark

  Galerida cristata (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  115
• European Goldfinch

  Carduelis carduelis (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  115
• Gray/Purple Heron

  Ardea cinerea Linnaeus, 1758 · Aves
  110
• Eurasian Magpie

  Pica pica (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  108