15th March: The ruins of Troy

We spurned the unnecessarily expensive guided tour from Canakkale to Troy in favour of taking the public minibus. This was our only mission for the day, so we took advantage of the opportunity for a lie-in and a relaxed morning with plenty of time to enjoy the Helen Hotel's excellent breakfast.

The 11.30 a.m. minibus arrived at the entrance to the archaeological site, first identified by Frank Calvert in 1866 and subsequently excavated by Heinrich Schliemann, just after midday. Awaiting us were a dozen large coaches, which threatened to ignite the hatred of tour groups that I had been cultivating since Jerusalem. We couldn't even benefit from eaves-dropping on their guide for free because they were all speaking German. Thankfully we were able to dodge the groups and enjoyed a relatively peaceful wander among the ruins of Troy. The only threat to our tranquility was posed by a pretty and persistent little cat who was determined to acquire one of the cheese sandwiches on which we were munching while sitting on a bench.

Not what we wanted to see

The rather bizarre recreation of the Trojan Horse at the entrance; the windows might have been a give-away

A very persistent cat

We had been warned that the ruins themselves were underwhelming and required considerable imagination, but we were pleasantly surprised. Recent archaeological digs had unearthed walls and foundations from as early as 3,000 BC, as well as numerous buildings that are thought to date from the time of the Trojan War described in Homer's Iliad and Odyssey.

A little imagination was needed to visualise Troy in all its splendour

But some walls had survived (or perhaps had been restored)

Original foundation stones from 2,500 BC, according to the sign

More 3rd millenium BC ruins, covered by a roof sponsored by several German companies

It took us around two hours to wander around the ancient city, which is thought to have evolved over at least nine distinct periods of civilisation. The ruins were perched on a hill, beneath which a fertile plain stretched out towards the distant shore. Although very different to the Roman city at Jerash, where the buildings were much more complete (although to what extent they had been restored was unclear), the ruins were much more impressive than we had expected. Here are some highlights of the home of Priam, Paris, and Hector.

Schliemann Trench, with the Hellespont in the distance

Fortifications from around 3,000 BC

The ramp up to the fortifications of Troia II, where Schliemann found "Priam's Treasure"
(although the ruins are now thought to date from around 1,000 years earlier than the time of Priam)

This shows the many strata testifying to the different Trojan eras

The ancient walls of Troia VII, now thought to be the city sung by Homer

Walking among the ruins (and sheltering from the bitterly cold wind)

More ruins from Hector's Troy

The Odeon, evidently restored

The road leading to the main gate of Troai VII

Greek inscription in front of the Odeon

As we returned to the entrance another pestilential swarm of tour buses was starting to arrive, laden with tourists of various nationalities. Grateful that we had managed to bisect the two waves of invaders, we had a quick look at the archaeological exhibition while we awaited the public minibus back to Canakkale.

Tour groups arriving

An impressive conceit by which to associate one's name with several of the greatest leaders in history

It was all too much for one tour-grouper

More and more of the evil vehicles arrive, ready to spew forth their horrendous cargo

By the time we had arrived back in town the wind had picked up and the temperature had dropped, and a cold drizzle had started to fall; not exactly what we had hoped for in Turkey. We retreated to our warm hotel room to write up the blog entries for Jerusalem and Bethlehem. Hunger eventually forced us out into the cold but thankfully dry evening, as we searched for somewhere to eat by the sea. We found a place that served decent albeit not very Turkish food; the lowlight was the glass of red wine that Clem ordered, which was so bad that it remained intact on the table when we left.

Returning to Canakkale; you can see the dark clouds starting to arrive