Sardis was once the wealthiest city in the world, under the famous King Croesus (reigned 560 546 b.c. ), hence the expression rich as Croesus.
King Croesus was in power when Sardis was quite wealthy.
Most of the temple quarter was firebombed to ashes in 1945, but by 1958 the people of the area had raised enough money to rebuild Sensoji and all of the important structures around it.