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Published: March 5th 2010
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Troy
Showing how the fortified wall was built Yesterday morning we visited the ancient city of Troy, on the coast just a little south of Canakkale. Yes, it is a real place although it is debatable whether Homer's epic was really the first historical fiction novel, or whether these folks and events did exist.
The Iliad was written about 500 years after the Trojan Wars (thought to be about 1200BC) and tells the tale of Paris, son of King Priam, who abducted Helen the wife of the King of Sparta and high tailed it to Troy. The King of Sparta did not take kindly to this, as the story goes, and a ten year war was started (ending with the Trojan horse that was left at the gate, and filled with Greek soldiers).
There is no doubt that a long war took place here. For instance, there is evidence that the houses outside of the city walls were quickly abandoned, and accommodations inside the walls quickly modified (made smaller to accommodate more), remove any outside windows, and very large jars were found that were likely used to stockpile foodstuffs. Whether a 10 year siege was over a woman is debatable; given the riches of the area and
it's strategic position on the straits, Troy was desirable property.
Whatever you choose to believe, there is no doubt the ancient village existed and great battles did take place on the surrounding planes. And apparently the 'archaeologist' Schlieman used the novel's descriptions of the city to locate the site and ultimately uncovered the remains of Troy and evidence of 9 successive civilizations, built on top of each other, dating back 5,000 years. He also found the treasury - he originally thought these jewels were the Trojan war king's but they have been dated to a much earlier era.
What is seen today is largely from the Roman era. Unfortunately, like many of the sites we visited in Turkey, most of the treasures were taken from the country and are on display in museums around the world. There is actually a Pergamom Museum in Vienna, and most of the Troy artifacts were in Berlin and disappeared after the Red Army invasion. I understand that negotiations continue to return these things to Turkey.
Late that day we caught our short flight to Istanbul and made our way through the mad mad mad traffic to our hotel - it felt
Troy
Showing a new, much later, addition to the fortified wall a little like coming home!
This morning we were totally underwhelmed by the Dohlmabace Palace. This was built to replace the Topkapi Palace as the seat of government and home of the Sultan in the late 19th century. It is extremely European in design and decor, and there is little of Turkey in it, it seemed to us. Still, it is an impressive site, but one you could see elsewhere in Europe - like Versailles.
Anyway, it was a pleasant stroll and we later headed up behind the 'new' palace and explored the streets of Taksim. (And found books in English! My son got one that was highly recommended to him re Attaturk (among others) and I settled on Rumi. We could have spent hours there). This is a newer and more modern neighbourhood in Istanbul and it was a good contrast to where we have been spending most of our time (in Sultanahmet, the old city). I think you could spend a full 2 weeks in this city just exploring.
Tomorrow is our last day in Turkey!
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