T is for Troy in NW Turkey
After
reading Homer's “Iliad” as teenager, I had high hopes to see the ruins of Troy in person.
So,
on our drive to the Turkish wine island of Bozcaada
five years ago, we stopped to see the UNESCO historical site of Troy, located
along the Aegean Sea on the Çanakkale peninsula.
Sadly,
due to earthquakes and archeological lootings over the years, Troy is not as
impressive as I had hoped – piles of random stones here and there. If you want
to be impressed, head to Pergamon or
Aphrodisias instead. Still, Troy is
impressive for its age as the oldest ruins date from 3000 BC.
 |
| At least you can still see part of the ancient theatre in Troy. |
The
fact that Troy even exists as a real city also is impressive. Until the 19th
century, many people assumed that Homer's Iliad was fiction. In
1863 a British expatriate named Frank Calvert discovered ancient
ruins at a place in western Turkey called Hisarlık and was convinced they
were Troy. German archaeologist Heinrich Schliemann showed up in 1868,
provided money for more digging, and took all the credit for discovering Troy.
From what I understand, Schliemann took many of the Troy artefacts, including
the “Treasure of Priam” back to Germany, which the Russians stole after WWII.
Today, the treasure is still hidden somewhere in Moscow. It seems history is
often filled with lots of drama.
Anyway,
if you love a good Greek tragedy, it’s worth stopping by to visit Troy. But you’ll
have to visit museums in Russia or Germany to see many of the valuable artefacts.
I’m
linking this post to the monthly travel guide link up organized by Fiona, a
fellow Australian blogger, at Tiffin
Bite Sized Food Adventures. Each month features a new letter of the
alphabet. This month is the letter “T.” Please pop on over to Fiona’s blog to
read more travel stories or feel free to link up your own!
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4 comments:
Snap! I knew Turkey would feature : ) I've been to Troy also. We caught the ferry from Cannakale after we visited the Gallipoli sites. It was interesting but as we didn't have a guide, we sort of had to guess a lot. Still, it was part of a wonderful holiday. Wait until I tell my friends about the wine island - they will be sorry we missed it!
oh dear that is a bit sad isn't it? it does indeed look like ruins. it's quite awful that so many ancient ruins have been pillaged by locals for building and by eager archaeologists from other countries. ah well at least we can still some of it in place even if it is fallen rocks. and yes there is always the British Museum!
What a lovely piece about such an interesting place. That photo brings back memories - we went to troy with a local guide who was quite a character but having recently read Achilles Song by MAdeline Millar I would love to go back. As well as the ampitheatre, i remember the cheesiness of a wooden trojan horse!!!
Oh, how I would love to travel there one day, wonderful place☺
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