| Troy Truva or Troya | |
.jpg/250px-Walls_of_Troy_(2).jpg) | |
Location  | |
| State | Turkey |
|---|---|
| Region | Marmara region |
| Institutional website | |
Troy is an archaeological site of the Marmara region.
To know
Troy 
is an ancient city made famous by the epic of Homer, L'Iliad. According to theIliad , this is where the legendary took place Trojan War. Today it is a popular archaeological site among travelers from all over the world, and in addition to being a national park of Turkey, it is on the list of UNESCO World Heritage Site.
Troy is one of the most famous ancient sites in Turkey (perhaps along with Ephesus and finally also Göbekli Tepe), yet the expectations during the visit may be lower than imagined. In fact, you will not find the glory of the shiny marble columns found in many other sites of antiquity, however in it you are invited to think of the ruins as a memorial of all the wars that people have had to endure throughout history.
Geographical notes
Once a port city on the edge of a deep Dardanelles bay, the site is now 5km inland from the coast due to alluvial material carried by the Scamander River (modern Karamenderes), which filled the bay, transforming it into fertile cultivated land that juts out into the sea.
The site is located within the Troia National Park.
Background
The first city on the site of Troy was called Wilusa, founded in the third millennium BC give it Hittites, who were the first natives ofAnatolia to form a state during the Bronze Age. Located on the Hisarlık Hill on the northwestern tip of the Troad Peninsula, it was clear that the reason for the city's existence in the first place was the total control of the Dardanelles, which, together with the Sea of Marmara and the Bosphorus, is now known as the Turkish Strait, a key route connecting the Mediterranean with the Black Sea, and where the European and Asian continental masses are within walking distance of each other.
The kidnapping of Elena, the daughter of the king of Sparta, from Paris, a Trojan prince, aroused enmity between the Trojans and the Achaeans on the other side of the Aegean Sea, or so the story goes. Having failed to enter the defensive walls of the city, the Achaeans decided to invent a trick: they offered a huge wooden horse as a gift to the Trojans, as a fine for the disturbance they had caused with their war galleys on the city beach. The Trojans accepted the offer, but this led to them losing the city, as there were Achaean soldiers inside the horse, ready to fight right in the center of the city.
Historically there was a real one Trojan War, which probably took place in the 12th century BC, and it was around this time that the Hittite Wilusa was converted to the Hellenic Ilion, and later to Troy. However, for some reason, all subsequent invaders from all directions, with the exception of Alexander the Great (whose officers founded the city of Alexandria Troas on the coast south of Troy), favored the Bosphorus to the northeast instead of the Dardanelles for their intercontinental crossings. Even the Roman emperor Constantine I (306-337) agreed, founding a new capital for his empire, Constantinople, on the banks of the Bosphorus. As Constantinople prospered, its rival Troy declined, eventually disappearing under layers of earth.
Since the times of the Byzantine Empire, Troy was thought to be nothing more than Homer's pure imagination, but in 1868 Heinrich Schliemann, a German businessman and self-taught archaeologist, proved otherwise, after taking the hint that Troy may have been a royal place buried under the Hisarlık Hill from Frank Calvert, a British archaeologist who had visited the site three years earlier. Since Schliemann's excavations were totally amateurish, they damaged the integrity of much of the remains, but Schliemann still got what he wanted: his Greek bride Sophia Schliemann was immortalized in a photo showing her wearing the treasures found on Hisarlık Hill (part of the treasure was later brought by the Red Army from Berlin to Moscow at the end of the Second World War and today exhibited in one of the museums).
Although almost a century and a half has passed since Schliemann's time, Troy has not yet been fully unearthed and excavation work continues today.
In modern Turkish, there is a tendency to move the site name from Truva, which reflects the pronunciation of the French name of the place (Sluts) as that was the language of choice for the Turkish elite until the 1950s, a Troya, which is closer to the original Greek name, although both can still be heard interchangeably.
How to get
By car
The site is located 5 km from the main highway Çanakkale-Izmir (D550 / E87), with which it is connected by a road through a beautiful countryside. Road signs (which say Truva, Troya, Troy or Troia, sometimes two of them on the same sign) directions depart from the Çanakkale ferry port.
Note that there is no indication on the approach to the intersection where the road to Troia branches off from the main highway (except for a brown sign just inside the intersection), so moderate your speed and expect the intersection at any time when you are within 30km or so of Çanakkale.
By bus
The nearest major center is Çanakkale, about 35 km north of Troia. There are minibuses that travel to and from the local Çanakkale bus station, which is located under the river bridge. The journey takes approximately 45 minutes.
From Çanakkale, minibuses are scheduled (January 2012) to depart every hour from 07:00 with the last one at 15:00. To return every hour starting at 09:30 with the last ride at 17:30. An up-to-date schedule can be found at the tourist information office in Çanakkale near the ferry port.
Permits / Rates
The entrance fee to the site is 50 TL (Nov 2020).
- Opening time
Summertime from 15 March to 24 October: Mon-Sun 10: 00-19: 00, winter period from 24 October to 15 March: Mon-Sun 09: 00-17: 30
How to get around
The path between the ruins is well marked, but in places it is quite rocky and slippery. Make sure you wear proper walking shoes.
What see
Troy was destroyed and rebuilt nine times, and in each of the nine different layers there is still something to this day, although amateur archaeological excavations of the late 1800s greatly damaged legibility. The layer thought to be depicted in the Iliad is probably Troy VII, a part of the legendary walls still intact.
- 1 Troy Museum.
What to do
Climbing the faux Trojan horse stairs at the site entrance is an inevitable part of the experience. Best done on weekdays as the stairs (and the inside of the horse itself) can get crowded on weekends by schoolchildren on a trip (a situation that makes climbing up and down steep stairs rather unpleasant). Winter is a great time to visit Troy, as there are very few tourists around.
Shopping
Where to eat
Where stay
It is also possible to stay in Çanakkale and visit Troy as a day trip.
- 1 Troia Pension & Camping, ☎ 90 286 283 0571, @[email protected]. Camping for caravans, motorhomes and tents. Motel rooms available. Hot showers, laundry, electricity connection, free Wi-Fi.
Safety
How to keep in touch
Telephony
There are public pay phones just outside the entrance to the ancient city. The area code is (90) 286.
Around
- Fans of the Iliad (and nature lovers) will probably find the neighbor interesting Mount Ida (southeast of Troy). According to the epic, this is where the gods witnessed the epic battle on the fields of Troas, and Paris chose the most beautiful of the three goddesses. The approach from the north (through the city of Bayramiç) and the southern one (from various villages along the northern coast of the Gulf of Edremit) to the mountain.
- Bozcaada, or the ancient Tenedo, an island in the Aegean Sea with a well-preserved old town and a Venetian castle, is nearby (visible from Troia). The port of Geyikli, which has a ferry connection with Bozcaada, is located about 10 km from Troia to the south.
- Çanakkale, the main city of the Troad Peninsula, should be one of the next destinations if you haven't already arrived from that direction.
- You can also keep moving south through country roads along the coast, passing pleasant villages and a series of ancient Greek ruins amidst some beautiful Mediterranean landscapes.
