City of Troy – More than a Wooden Horse

When most people think of the ancient city of Troy from the legends of Odysseus and Achilles, they think of a big wooden horse and ancient Greece. However, most people don’t know where Troy really was, and they don’t know that the version of Troy from the myths was the sixth and seventh versions of the city. The site where the Hellenistic version of Troy was built had settlements from as early as 3,000 B.C.

The place was discovered in the mid-19th century based on historical records and research. However, the first guy to start excavations just plowed into the side of the hill until he found the treasure he sought. This, unfortunately, destroyed much of the ruins in his path. And, he ended up looting what he found and sending it back to Germany.

Since then, excavations have revealed the various levels of Troy. The earliest versions had buildings made of mud bricks. The second version had an upper level and lower level that differentiated classes. Eventually, you had the Greeks and Romans leave their mark. All of this is evident from the ruins that have been excavated.

Each city of Troy is numbered by archaeologists to mark a new rebuilding of the city not necessarily a new civilization. The rebuilding came after the city was ruined due to war, fire, or earthquake. For example, the fabled Battle of Troy took place during Troy VI and Troy VII as the city was somewhat destroyed during the battle.

Our guide told us all of the amazing history, the speculation, the legend, and more. We saw the city walls of Troy I from 5,000 years ago. We saw crumbling mud-brick walls from the first two cities and massive stone walls from the later periods. There are remnants of ancient Greek temples, older temples where animal sacrifices were performed, and a Roman bath and theater. There is also a life-size replica of the legendary wooden horse Odysseus used to win the battle.

The nearby city, Cannakale, has its own replica of the horse. Theirs, however, is considered to be more accurate. It has probably been seen by more people since it was the prop for the movie Troy.