Troy, Greek Troia, also called Ilios or Ilion, Latin Troia, Troja, or Ilium, ancient city in northwestern Anatolia that holds an enduring place in both literature and archaeology. The legend of the Trojan War is the most notable theme from ancient Greek literature and forms the basis of Homer’s Iliad. Although the actual nature and size of the historical settlement remain matters of scholarly debate, the ruins of Troy at Hisarlık, Turkey, are a key archaeological site whose many layers illustrate the gradual development of civilization in northwestern Asia Minor.
Geography
Ancient Troy commanded a strategic point at the southern entrance to the Dardanelles (Hellespont), a narrow strait linking the Black Sea with the Aegean Sea via the Sea of Marmara. The city also commanded a land route that ran north along the west Anatolian coast and crossed the narrowest point of the Dardanelles to the European shore. In theory, Troy would have been able to use its site astride these two lines of communication to exact tolls from trading vessels and other travelers using them; the actual extent to which this took place, however, remains unclear.
The Troad (Greek Troias; “Land of Troy”) is the district formed by the northwestern projection of Asia Minor into the Aegean Sea. The present-day ruins of Troy itself occupy the western end of a low descending ridge in the extreme northwest corner of the Troad. Less than 4 miles (6 km) to the west, across the plain of the Scamander (Küçük Menderes) River, is the Aegean Sea, and toward the north are the narrows of the Dardanelles.
Archaeology
The search for Troy at Hisarlık
The approximate location of Troy was well known from references in works by ancient Greek and Latin authors. But the exact site of the city remained unidentified until modern times. A large mound, known locally as Hisarlık, had long been understood to hold the ruins of a city named Ilion or Ilium that had flourished in Hellenistic and Roman times. In 1822 Charles Maclaren suggested that this was the site of Homeric Troy, but for the next 50 years his suggestion received little attention from Classical scholars, most of whom regarded the Trojan legend as a mere fictional creation based on myth, not history. The German archaeologist Heinrich Schliemann deserves full credit for adopting Maclaren’s identification and demonstrating to the world that it was correct. In seven major and two minor campaigns between 1870 and 1890, Schliemann conducted excavations on a large scale mainly in the central area of the Hisarlık mound, where he exposed the remains of a walled citadel. After Schliemann’s death in 1890, the excavations were continued (1893–94) by his colleague Wilhelm Dörpfeld and later (1932–38) by an expedition from the University of Cincinnati headed by Carl W. Blegen. After a lapse of some 50 years, excavations resumed (1988–2005) under the leadership of University of Tübingen archaeologist Manfred Korfmann and continued after his death.
Questions of Troy’s physical size, population, and stature as a trade entrepôt and regional power became subjects of intense scholarly dispute following the resumption of excavations at Hisarlık in the late 1980s. Although Homeric Troy was described as a wealthy and populous city, by this time some scholars had come to accept the probability of a lesser Troy a relatively minor settlement, perhaps a princely seat. Beginning in 1988, Korfmann’s team investigated the terrain surrounding the citadel site in search of wider settlement. Korfmann’s findings at Hisarlık, drawn from geomagnetic surveying and isolated excavations, led him to conclude in favour of a greater Troy that is, a settlement of some size and prosperity. His presentation of this perspective in a 2001 exhibition, accompanied by a controversial model reconstruction of the city, sparked especially intense scholarly debate over the city’s true nature.
Trojan War
Helen of Troy
Troy,
We were told that because there are so many sites in Turkey to maintain this one didn't get a great deal of funding. This was my second trip in order to take a friend and we had combined it with a trip to Gallipoli whilst we were in the area. Its far from the greatest site and you have to…
Many of the walls are still visible and there are signs in English, German and Turkish explaining what is going on with pictures for clarity. It's a beautiful spot above the plains and it's certainly worth visiting if you have more than a casual interest in its history. But the stone work is jumbled into many layers (due to its…
Well it’s a choice to spend on an experience or for a material item. often than not I spend on an experience. Therefore when I had a chance to visit this mythological city on which the EPIC tale of Troy was written by Homer, I couldn’t resist.
Having read Iliad and watched the movie, I knew a bit of…
This was an excellent lesson in history. Get the audio guide or a guide for this. Troy is actually 7 different cities on top each other it's like peeling an onion. They are building a new museum in 2015 and they really building up the site. I would have given it 5stars but there is allot of work to be…
If you compare it with other ruins nearby, this has really nothing to show. Therefore, unless you must pass near this site, just don't choose to go there, it's not worth it! The ticket entrance is expensive, the site is small and the information on how the buildings and the walls were don't help you to imagine how beautiful the…
This site was excavated in 1871 and there is evidence that nine cities were built here, in layers. There are a number of ruins in various states of excavation and work is still on going.
Our tour guide walked us around the site explaining what we were seeing and then we had some free time to explore by ourselves. The…
If you are going to one of the other Roman sites in Turkey such as Ephesus then you could skip this but this site is very interesting and worth a visit if you are in the area. The fact that you can actually touch some of the ruins is outstanding. A guide is definitely needed so that you can have…
Was expecting something similar to Ephesus saw only bunch of rocks on a pile and some foundations that are hard to make out. No structures. I understand its how it is due to so many cities been build on top of each other but unfortunately was badly excavated. Trojan horse is a peace of art by a recent Turkish artist…
The site is nothing compard to othe famous ruins but for all those that remember the historic story then you just must go. I went not expecting too much, but was impressed as they have done a good job of making it interesting (including a disney like horse) my mind went back through the levels of civilisation it laid out….
We visited this site as part of our tour so had the benefit of a tour guide. It's a great site to walk around as there is a raised boardwalk around most of it. To see how they constructed the village and the ever extending walls was amazing.