Troy

Overview

From the top of a low mound, you look across a flat green plain toward the Dardanelles. Below your feet lie nine cities, one on top of another, spanning more than 3,000 years. Somewhere in those layers, Homer set the story of Helen, Achilles and the wooden horse. This is Troy, a famous ruin that is smaller than its legend.

Troy is small, but it is deep. So come with a little patience and a good guide, and the walls, ramps and trenches will start to speak. Then finish at the Troy Museum nearby, where finds from the excavations fill the galleries.

Troy: A Legend You Can Walk Through

Troy lies at a mound called Hisarlık, near the village of Tevfikiye in Çanakkale province, in the northwest corner of Turkey. For a night in Çanakkale, see the best hotels in Çanakkale. In Greek, the city was also called Ilion, which gave the Iliad its name. In Turkish, people call it Truva or Troya.

Since 1996, the site has been the heart of a historical national park, and in 1998 it became the UNESCO World Heritage Site of the Archaeological Site of Troy. For another great ancient city in western Turkey, see Ephesus, a few hours to the south.

History of Troy

Nine cities in one mound

People first settled here around 3600 BC. Over the next four millennia, each new town rose on the ruins of the last. So archaeologists number the layers from Troy I, the oldest, to Troy IX, the Roman city. The second city, around 2550 BC, was already rich, with massive walls and treasures of amber, carnelian and lapis from distant lands.

Wilusa and the Trojan War

In the Late Bronze Age, Troy VI and VII formed a large city with a citadel and a lower town. Hittite records call a city in this region Wilusa, a name that probably stands for Ilion. Later, the layer called VIIa was destroyed, and the ruins show signs of an enemy attack, including scorch marks. However, there is still no clear proof of a Greek war against the city. So the link between myth and history remains open.

Greek Ilion and Roman Ilium

Later, Greeks and Romans honored Troy as a holy place of legend. Even the Persian king Xerxes made a great sacrifice here to Athena. The Romans also believed that Aeneas, a Trojan prince, was their ancestor. For that reason, Julius Caesar and Augustus both favored the city, and Augustus paid to rebuild its temple, theater and council house.

Calvert, Schliemann and the excavations

In 1865, Frank Calvert, who owned a farm nearby, dug here and identified the site with ancient Ilion. Then the German businessman Heinrich Schliemann took over, digging mainly from 1871. He found a hoard of gold that he called Priam’s Treasure, but his rough methods destroyed many layers. Today parts of that treasure are in Istanbul and in Moscow. Since 2014, a team from Çanakkale Onsekiz Mart University has led the work.

What to See at Troy

The walls of Troy

The most impressive remains are the sloping walls of the Late Bronze Age citadel. During his work, Wilhelm Dörpfeld found a weaker section in the wall of the sixth city. Since Homer also describes a weak spot in the walls of Troy, Dörpfeld became convinced that this was the city of the legend.

The ramp of Troy II

A paved stone ramp leads up to the citadel of Troy II. Schliemann believed this was the city of Priam, but later research showed it was about a thousand years too old. Even so, it remains one of the most photographed spots on the site.

Schliemann’s Trench

In 1870, Schliemann cut a deep trench straight across the mound to reach the oldest layers. Today, the trench shows the cities stacked like the pages of a book. A covered area also protects the remains of an early hall and its wall.

The Troy Museum

Near the site entrance, the museum opened in 2018. Its cube-shaped building holds finds from the whole region. Here you see the pottery, jewelry and sculpture that give the walls their meaning.

Two Wooden Horses and a Plate of Cheese Halva

Troy has two wooden horses, one at the site and one in Çanakkale. Near the site entrance stands the climbable horse, with a ladder and rooms inside, which children love. The second one stands 30 kilometers (19 miles) away on the waterfront of Çanakkale. It is the horse used in the 2004 film Troy. Locals meet under it, and it is a favorite photo in town.

Around the site, farms still cover the plain that once ran down to the sea, and the villages make well-known cheese.

From Çanakkale, it is also a short ferry ride across the Dardanelles to the Gallipoli peninsula. Our guides can combine Troy and Gallipoli in two easy days, or join our Gallipoli and Troy tour. Also from Çanakkale, our Gökçeada day trip takes the ferry to an island of hills and stone villages.

How to Visit Troy

Getting to Troy

• From Çanakkale: drive south to the village of Tevfikiye, then follow the signs to the museum and the site.
• From Istanbul: combine the site with the Gallipoli peninsula across the Dardanelles.
• Further south: continue down the Aegean coast to Pergamon, then on to Kuşadası and Ephesus.
• Take the ferry to Bozcaada, the island of Tenedos where, in legend, the Greek fleet hid.
• Drive south to Assos, the hilltop city of Aristotle above the Gulf of Edremit.
• Stop at Alexandria Troas on the way, the Roman port where Saint Paul set sail for Europe; our Alexandria Troas tour goes there for sunset.

Local tips for Troy

• Visit the museum first, so the ruins make more sense when you reach them.
• Follow the marked path and the information boards, which explain each layer.
• Bring a hat and water, because the mound has little shade.
• We arrange your entry to Troy and its museum as part of the day.

From Istanbul, our Troy day trip crosses the 1915 Çanakkale Bridge and includes the Troy Museum.