History

Located on the İzmir–Ankara road, Salihli is bordered by Alaşehir and Kula to the east, Demirci, Köprübaşı and Gördes to the north, Gölmarmara and Ahmetli to the west, and the Ödemiş district of İzmir to the south.

Although the history of the region extends back to ancient times, as indicated by the fossilised footprints discovered near the villages of Sindel and Çarıklar in the vicinity of the reservoir lake, the oldest known important settlement is Sardes, located approximately 7 km to the west of Salihli. The region, which remained within Lydia until 547 BC, passed into Persian control in that year and continued under Persian rule until 334 BC. Thereafter, the region successively came under the rule of Macedonia, Pergamon, Rome and Byzantium; Sart, which came under the rule of the Saruhanids in the early 1300s and of the Ottoman Empire in 1400, became a district within the Aydın Sanjak.

It is observed that the present-day district centre, which at that time was a village under the jurisdiction of Sart District and was known as Veled-i Salih (Salihoğlu), developed more rapidly than Sart over time, becoming a town by the beginning of the 18th century and a district within the Saruhan Sanjak by 1872. Following the renaming of the Saruhan Sanjak in 1927, Salihli, which was one of the largest districts of Manisa, remained under occupation between 24 June 1920 and 5 September 1922.

The economy of the district is founded upon agriculture, the earthenware industry, leatherworking and trade. The principal agricultural products within the district’s economy are cereals, grapes, cotton and tobacco. Fish farming is carried out in Lake Marmara and the Demirköprü Dam. Industry is also developing in the district, which occupies an important position in terms of trade.