The remains are now located in the Bantul Regency, Special Region of Yogyakarta, Indonesia, close to the banks of the Opak River, and south of Kota Gede.

Sultan Agung (1613–1645) built the previous court complex at Karta and moved the capital there in the first decade of his reign.

The decision to move to a new capital might have been made during his reign in 1634 when a fire in Karta killed "many people of the court".

[3] In 1647, shortly after taking the throne, Amagkurat built his royal residence near the lake and moved the court there.

[4][5] In contrast to Karta, which was made of wood, the royal compound at Plered was built of brick.

[8][9] Consequently, Amangkurat and the royal family fled the court, and soon after the rebels entered the complex and plundered it.

[6] Another son, Pangeran Puger occupied Plered after the rebels left and made a rival claim to the kingdom.

[11] Unable to take Plered from his brother, Amangkurat moved his capital to the newly built Kartasura in 1680.

[14] Because of the destruction of the buildings, the layout of Plered could only be approximated from historical reports, such as Van Goens' description of his 1648 visit to the palace, a map by Rouffaers based on his visit to the ruins in 1889, another map by Louw in 1897, and Javanese texts such as the babads as well as modern archaeological analysis of the site.

[15] The kraton of Plered was a walled structure in a shape that is roughly square but not perfectly symmetrical.

[14] The remains of the town became a cultural heritage site ("Cagar Budaya"), located in Bantul Regency, Special Region of Yogyakarta.