Troy, Shore leave - 2
25 July 2018 | Troy, Canakkale Turkey
Dierk and Sabrina
Troy, Canakkale Turkey
25 July
Few areas of Turkey have been as thoroughly excavated as Troy. Nine different strata have yielded pieces of a history that runs from around 4000 BC until about 300 AD. Troy is the pivot of Homer’s Iliad and where the decade long Trojan war in the 13th century BC was fought.
Visible today are the defence walls, houses from various periods and an amphitheatre along with remains of baths.
Whilst we were there, there were numerous groups of archaeologists painfully excavating various sites shovel by shovel. A painstaking process no doubt.
We again had a tour guide through Crowdedhouse tours. As usual the knowledge these guides have is astounding.
When you first arrive at the site, the first thing you see is a replica of the wooden horse, a reconstruction of a device that was used by the Greeks to deceive and ultimately vanquish the Trojans.
It is interesting to note that in reality historians are not even sure if there ever was a wooden horse. Some postulate that a “Z”shaped scaffold was used to scale the walls of Troy, anyway who knows.
The legend suggests that the wooden horse was left outside the gates of Troy laden with Greek soldiers. The Trojans eventually opened the gates wheeled it in and whilst they were all making merry and celebrating, the soldiers exited the horse and opened the impenetrable gates of Troy, the rest is history.
By the way, at Canakkale outside the marina the actual wooden horse used in the movie Troy starring Brad Pitt is on display. It is quite an impressive structure.