Countless civilizations and great states have disappeared forever. One of the clear examples of this is the city of Troy, also known as Ilion. It has long excited the minds of historians and archaeologists. There is a curious history of its appearance, existence and fall.

Date of formation and location of the city

The history of the famous city begins from 3000 BC. It was located on the Troad Peninsula in Asia Minor. Now this area belongs to Turkey. The people living in this area were called Teucrians.

In the square where Troy was located, the Scamander and Simois rivers flowed on both sides. There was an unhindered route to the Aegean Sea.

Consequently, Troy during its existence was famous for its winning geographical location not only in the economic field, but also in terms of defense when attacked by enemies. For many centuries, ancient Troy was significant shopping center between East and West, was constantly subject to raids, arson and looting.

What is the city of Troy famous for?

The state is primarily known to the world for the Trojan War. According to Homer's Iliad, the ruler of Troy, King Priam, fought with the Greeks. The reason was the kidnapping of Elena. She was the wife of Menelaus, who was the ruler of Sparta. As it turned out, she ran away with Paris, who was the prince of Troy. The latter did not agree to return Elena, which became the reason for starting a war that lasted 10 long years.

Another poem by Homer, “The Odyssey,” tells about the destruction of the city. The war broke out between the Trojans and the Achaean tribes (ancient Greeks), the latter won the battle thanks to military cunning. The Greeks built an impressive wooden horse and brought it to the gates of Troy, after which they left.

Residents of the city allowed the statue to be brought inside the walls, after which the soldiers hiding inside it captured Troy.

The final fall of Troy

From 350 BC and until 900 the city was ruled by the Greeks. Subsequently, its rulers constantly replaced each other. First, the Persians captured the city, later it became the property of Alexander the Great. Only the Roman Empire, which captured Troy, revived the city again.

In 400 BC. Troy fell into the hands of the Turks, who finally destroyed it. The remaining human settlements in the place where the great city previously existed disappeared in the 6th century AD.

What is now on the site of Troy?

Modern Troy is not at all similar to the place that was described by Homer. Over time, the coastline gradually moved, so the city was discovered on a completely dry hill.

People from all over the world constantly come to the city-museum. The ruins have excellent appearance. Of particular interest at the site where Troy once stood is a copy of that same wooden statue of a horse. Anyone can enter inside, trying on the role of a Greek warrior.

There is a museum on the excavation site where you can study photographs, samples and things that allow you to thoroughly familiarize yourself with the excavation stage of Troy. Tourists can go to the Temple of Pallas Athena, stroll inside the sanctuary of the gods and through the Odeon concert hall.

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Despite the fact that Schliemann was looking for the Troy described by Homer, the real city turned out to be older than the one mentioned in the chronicles of the Greek author. In 1988, excavations were continued by Manred Kaufman. Then it turned out that the city was occupied large territory than initially assumed.

A total of nine were discovered at the excavation site. different levels, that is, the city was rebuilt 9 times. When Schliemann discovered the ruins of Troy, he noticed that the settlement had been destroyed by fire. But whether this was the same city that, according to legend, was destroyed by the ancient Greeks during the Trojan War in 1200 BC remained unclear. After some disagreement, archaeologists came to the conclusion that two levels of excavations fit Homer's description, which they called "Troy 6" and "Troy 7".

In the end, the remains of the legendary city began to be considered an archaeological excavation called “Troy 7”. It was this city that was destroyed by fire around 1250–1200 BC.

The Legend of Troy and the Trojan Horse

According to the literary source of that time, Homer's Iliad, the ruler of the city of Troy, King Priam, waged a war with the Greeks because of the kidnapped Helen.

The woman was the wife of Agamemnon, the ruler of the Greek city of Sparta, but she ran away with Paris, the prince of Troy. Since Paris refused to return Helen to her homeland, a war broke out that lasted 10 years.

In another poem called The Odyssey, Homer talks about how Troy was destroyed. The Greeks won the war thanks to cunning. They are a wooden horse, which they allegedly wanted to present as a gift. The inhabitants of the city allowed the huge statue to be brought inside the walls, and the Greek soldiers sitting in it went out and captured the city.

Troy is also mentioned in Virgil's Aeneid.

There is still a lot of debate as to whether the city discovered by Schliemann is the same Troy that is mentioned in the works of ancient authors. It is known that about 2,700 years ago the Greeks colonized the northwestern coast of modern Turkey.

How old is Troy?

In his study Troy: City, Homer and Turkey, Dutch archaeologist Geert Jean Van Wijngaarden notes that at least 10 cities existed at the Hisarlik hill excavation site. Presumably the first settlers appeared in 3000 BC. When one city was destroyed for one reason or another, a new city arose in its place. new town. The ruins were manually covered with earth, and another settlement was built on the hill.

The heyday of the ancient city came in 2550 BC, when the settlement grew and a high wall was built around it. When Heinrich Schliemann excavated this settlement, he discovered hidden treasures that he assumed belonged to King Priam: a collection of weapons, silver, copper and bronze vessels, and gold jewelry. Schliemann believed that the treasures were in the royal palace.

It later became known that jewelry existed a thousand years before the reign of King Priam.

Which Troy is Homer?

Modern archaeologists believe that Troy, according to Homer, is the ruins of a city from the era of 1700–1190. BC. According to researcher Manfred Korfmann, the city covered an area of ​​about 30 hectares.

Unlike the poems of Homer, archaeologists claim that the city of this era died not from an attack by the Greeks, but from an earthquake. Moreover, at that time the Mycenaean civilization of the Greeks was already in decline. They simply could not attack Priam's city.

The settlement was abandoned by its inhabitants in 1000 BC, and in the 8th century BC, that is, during the time of Homer, it was inhabited by the Greeks. They were sure that they lived on the site of ancient Troy, described in the Iliad and Odyssey, and named the city Ilion.

Troy— there are probably few people in the world who have not heard the name of this legendary city at least once in their lives, who have not heard of the famous Trojan horse, which abruptly changed course Trojan War. Starting from Homer's Iliad, where fifty-one days are described last year Trojan War, O Troy a lot has been said and written. Troy has always interested and continues to interest a variety of scientists: archaeologists, historians, writers and local historians. Did you know that Troy is in ?

Trojan horse - symbol of Troy

Where is Troy? Troy on the map

« Troy" And " Ilion" two different names of the same mighty city in Asia Minor, at the entrance to the strait. The city was located on an ancient maritime trade route that connected the Aegean Sea with the Marmara and Black Seas. Troy occupied a dominant position over the strait and this allowed the city to become a key center of trade between East and West during the Bronze Age.

Location of Troy

According to Homer, a river flowed near the city Scamander and Simoes. The Scamander River (Turkish Karamenderes) originates on the slopes of the mountains Ida, which are now called Kaz-Dag. When Troy was first founded, it was located on the shores of the bay of the same name. But what we see today is no longer a bay but a large plain because the alluvial sediments of the rivers Scamander and Simoes gradually accumulated and over the course of many centuries these river sediments practically filled the bay. Nowadays, the ruins of ancient Troy are located 30 km from the city Çanakkale, near the village of Tevfikiye.

Excavations of Troy and the “Treasure of Priam”

For a long time existence itself Troy considered a myth or invention of Homer and the exact location Troy No one knew. Geographical descriptions given in Homer's Iliad, led some scientists to suggest that the ruins Troy may be in the north-west of Asia Minor, somewhere at the entrance to (on the territory of modern Turkey). In 1870, the famous self-taught archaeologist Heinrich Schliemann, having received permission from the then Ottoman authorities, began excavations in the northwestern part of the hill Hisarlik(near the city Canakkale). May 31, 1873 Schliemann a treasure was discovered, which he hastily named "Priam's Treasure". Later it turned out that this was not "Priam's Treasure", because the age of the treasure was a thousand years older than the times described by the blind poet Homer.

Golden tiara from the "Treasure of Prima" Left - Sophia Schliemann posing in a tiara (1874)

According to the Ottoman government's permit for excavation rights Hisarlik, Schliemann was obliged to transfer half of the finds to. But he hid the treasures from the Turkish authorities and smuggled them to Greece. In 1881, after unsuccessful attempts to sell the treasures to the world's largest museums, Schliemann donated them to the city of Berlin, which allowed him to become an honorary citizen of Berlin. Since 1945 Trojan treasure, taken as a trophy during the Second World War, is located in Moscow at the Pushkin Museum. A.S. Pushkin.

Many still doubt that Schliemann discovered the very Troy, but one way or another, most scientists today are inclined to believe that Schliemann was still right, “Troy has been excavated, and there is no second.”

Sights of Troy

Due to its strategic location, after every devastating war or devastating earthquake, the city was restored and life in Three started again. That's why these days archaeological site represents nine main cultural layers, which belong to different eras. Troy is one of the most famous archaeological sites in Turkey both in the world and included in.

Cultural layers of Troy

Troy I

The oldest archaeological traces of Troy date back to 2900 - 2500. BC e. Troy I was a small settlement and even at the height of its existence had a diameter of only 100 m. Despite its modest size, Troy I had a fortress with massive walls, gates and towers made of rough stone. This settlement existed for almost five centuries and, most likely, was destroyed by fire.

Troy II

Despite the fact that Troy I was destroyed by fire, arose on the site of the ashes Troy II represents the rebirth of a lost city. The second cultural layer of Troy (2500-2300 BC) is one of the most impressive archaeological sites of the Early Bronze Age. Many treasures were discovered in this layer, including the treasure discovered by Schliemann, which he hastily called the “Treasure of Priam.” All these treasures of gold, silver, bronze and copper indicate active trading activity in the city. However, Troy II also collapsed, but as a result of a sudden attack, as evidenced by the discovered traces of deliberate destruction.

Troy III, IV and V

Troy III, IV and V are already larger settlements that existed from 2300-1800. BC e. Over the centuries, the city's citadel has grown, but there are no concrete traces of the city's development; on the contrary, traces of the city's decline have been discovered. In these settlements there are already groups of small houses standing close to one another, separated by small streets. Troy V was again destroyed by fire.

Troy VI and VII

During this period, a new royal palace-citadel was built in Troy. In size, the new citadel surpassed not only the old one, but also any other in western Asia Minor. Made of hewn stone and reinforced with massive towers, the new fortress walls of the city were 4 to 5 m thick. All this testifies to wealth, prosperity and power Troy in this period. But large vertical faults on the fortress wall in the VI cultural layer of Troy(1800-1250 BC) , indicate that a strong earthquake occurred. After the earthquake, life began to emerge again at the site of the destroyed settlement. The Trojan War and the events mentioned by Homer in the Iliad refer to either Troy VI or Troy VII (1250-1025 BC).

Troy VIII and IX

According to modern scientists, the Greeks settled Troy, abandoned after the war, 250 years later, that is, during the life of Homer. At first, a small settlement arose on the site of old Troy, then the city grew. On the territory of Troy there was a temple to Athena, as well as a sanctuary for sacrifices (900-85 BC). According to Arrian (ancient Greek historian and geographer), he made a pilgrimage to Troy and visited the temple of Athena. From the Temple of Athena, only a few fragments of altars and marble fragments have reached us. With the growing power of the Roman state, a legend arose that it was the descendants of the Trojan Aeneas who founded Rome. That's why the Romans honored Troy. Gaius Julius Caesar ordered the expansion of the temple of Athena after his visit there in 48 BC. Augustus, who replaced him, also ordered the construction of a bouleuterion (council hall) and an odion for musical performances in the “sacred Ilium”.

Hotels near the National Park

Troy Photos

Video about Troy

The Trojan Horse is a symbol of Troy (located at the entrance to the Troy National Historical Park)

Myths say that the goddess of discord Eris was not invited to the wedding of the nymph Thetis with Peleus. After which she decided to take revenge, showed up at the feast uninvited and threw it on the table Golden Apple, on which it was written: “To the most beautiful.”

Three goddesses - Aphrodite, Hera and Athena - immediately started a dispute about who should get it, and they invited the Trojan prince Paris to play the role of judge.

Hera promised to make him the ruler of all Asia, Athena promised beauty, wisdom and victories in all battles, and Aphrodite - the love of the most beautiful woman - Helen, the wife of the Spartan king Menelaus.

Paris gave the apple to Aphrodite. And then he kidnapped Helen and took her to Troy.

After the abduction of Helen, the Greek kings, allies of Menelaus, at his call, gathered an army of 10 thousand soldiers and a fleet of 1178 ships and marched on Troy. The commander-in-chief was King Agamemnon of Mycenae.

The siege of Troy, which had many allies, lasted ten years. The Greek hero Achilles, the Trojan prince Hector and many others died in the battles. Finally, the cunning king of Ithaca, Odysseus, proposed a plan to capture the city.

The Greeks built a hollow wooden horse and, leaving it on the shore, pretended to set sail. The Trojans rejoiced and dragged the horse in which the Greek soldiers were hiding into the city. At night, the Greeks got out and opened the gates to their comrades, who were actually behind the nearest cape.

Troy was destroyed and burned. Menelaus returned Helen and took her home. This happened at the beginning of the 12th century. BC e.

Troy - history revealed by myth

Already in ancient times, among the peoples of Hellas, tales were known about the Trojan War, its heroes and the gods who helped them - the cunning Odysseus, the brave Achilles, the brave Hector, the powerful Poseidon, the beautiful Aphrodite and others.

Troy is an open-air museum city and one of the most famous historical cities. Historians generally believe that the Greek poet Homer describes it in his famous works “Odyssey” and “Iliad”.

Troy was located in the north of the peninsula Asia Minor, not far from the Dardanelles, which in ancient times was called the Hellespont. The area where this city stood was called Troas. In the Hittite archives, Troy appears as Taruisha.

But in the seventies of the nineteenth century, the famous archaeologist Heinrich Schliemann, while conducting excavations on the Hissarlik hill, came across the ruins of nine cities located in different historical layers of the earth, one after another. After a thorough analysis, it was found that this is the place Homer describes, and this is where the legendary Troy is located.

The exact time of Homer's life is not known. It is believed that he lived between the 12th and 6th centuries. BC e. The right to be called his homeland was disputed by seven cities: Smyrna, Chios, Colophon, Solomon, Rhodes, Argos and Athens.

Since then, this city has been one of the most popular, famous and visited attractions in Turkey. This city-museum is included in the UNESCO World Heritage List.

Troy— there are probably few people in the world who have not heard the name of this legendary city at least once in their lives, who have not heard of the famous Trojan horse, which abruptly changed course Trojan War. Starting from Homer's Iliad, which describes the fifty-one days of the last year Trojan War, O Three a lot has been said and written. Troy has always interested and continues to interest a variety of scientists: archaeologists, historians, writers and local historians.

Sasha Mitrakhovich 21.10.2015 15:55

Troy on the map of Turkey

Tales of the Trojan War have been widely known in Greece since ancient times. Aed singers sang songs about this event everywhere. Around the 8th century. BC e. several poems were composed.

Two of them have reached us - the Iliad and the Odyssey, the author of which is considered to be the blind poet Homer. The Iliad tells about the events that occurred in the ninth year of the war, and the Odyssey is the story of the long, ten-year return home of the Ithacan king, who recalls some episodes of the siege and death of Troy, including the Trojan Horse.

In ancient times, everyone knew the Iliad and the Odyssey. All literate people had lists of them in their homes; many rich people even kept slaves who recited these poems by heart. Roman literature began with the translation of the Iliad into Latin. And everyone in antiquity was convinced that this was a story about real events in which the deeds of gods and heroes were mixed.

« Troy" And " Ilion"two different names for the same mighty city in Asia Minor, at the entrance from Aegean Sea into the strait.

The city was located on an ancient maritime trade route that connected the Aegean Sea with the Marmara and Black Seas.

Troy occupied a dominant position over the strait and this allowed the city to become a key center of trade between East and West during the Bronze Age.

According to Homer, the Scamander and Simois rivers flowed near the city. The Scamander River (Turkish: Karamenderes) originates on the slopes of the Ida Mountains, which are now called Kaz-Dag.

When Troy was first founded, it was located on the shores of the bay of the same name. But what we see today is no longer a bay, but a large plain because the alluvial sediments of the Scamander and Simoes rivers gradually accumulated and over the course of many centuries these river sediments practically filled the bay.

Nowadays, the ruins of the ancient Troy are located in Turkey, 30 km from the city of Canakkale, near the village of Tevfikiye.

Sasha Mitrakhovich 30.10.2015 10:36

Around 700 BC e. the Greek colony of New Ilion was founded in those places. Alexander the Great made sacrifices there before his victorious campaign in Asia; Constantine the Great at one time thought to establish his capital there, but chose Byzantium.

Many travelers specifically went to Troas to look at the places where these events took place. However, centuries passed, New Ilion fell into decay, and gradually the Trojan War began to be considered a fairy tale, a myth, especially since gods participated in the events.

Some researchers saw in the Iliad an allegory for other events, for example, the Hellenic colonization of Asia Minor. This seems plausible, because ancient legends say that the Greeks who besieged Troy sowed grain every spring and also constantly plundered the coast.

Such events really do not look like a punitive campaign, but like expansion, slow and difficult.

Today, the area where the modern Troy, is strikingly different from the one Homer describes. The silt deposits of the Kara Menderes and Dumrek-Su rivers moved the coastline back year after year, day after day, and now the city lies on a completely dry hill.

In the city-museum " Troy“There is certainly something to see; the ruins alone, dating back to different historical periods, are worth it. Tourist visits here are allowed from May to September from 8.00 to 19.00, and from September to April from 8.00 to 17.00. The entrance ticket costs 15 liras. The optimal solution for a more complete acquaintance with all the exhibits would be to hire a guide.

One of the most popular and favorite places in the city is the famous Trojan Horse, or to be precise, its wooden copy. Everyone can climb inside the horse and feel like cunning and dexterous supporters of Odysseus.

True, most often there are so many tourists that most not only cannot stand in line to get inside Trojan horse, they simply cannot even get closer than a few hundred meters to it.

It may also be interesting to visit the Museum of Excavations, with numerous photographs, models and many other exhibits describing the stages of work to discover the city.

Numerous inquisitive tourists can visit the temple of Athena, impressive in its size and majesty, the mysterious and gloomy sanctuary of the ancient gods, the Odeon concert hall, and the houses of celebrities and the rich of Troy that have survived to this day.

Sasha Mitrakhovich 30.10.2015 10:39

For a long time the very existence Troy considered a myth or invention of Homer and the exact location Troy No one knew. Geographical descriptions given in Homer's Iliad, led some scientists to suggest that the ruins Troy may be in the north-west of Asia Minor, somewhere at the entrance to (in the territory of modern Turkey).

In 1870, the famous self-taught archaeologist Heinrich Schliemann, having received permission from the then Ottoman authorities, began excavations in the northwestern part of the Hissarlik hill (near the city of Canakkale). On May 31, 1873, Schliemann discovered a treasure, which he hastily named the “Treasure of Priam.”

Later it turned out that this was not the “Treasure of Priam”, because the age of the treasure was a thousand years older than the times described by the blind poet Homer. According to the Ottoman government's permission to excavate Hissarlik, Schliemann was obliged to transfer half of the finds to the Archaeological Museum in Istanbul. But he hid the treasures from the Turkish authorities and smuggled them to Greece.

In 1881, after unsuccessful attempts to sell the treasures to the world's largest museums, Schliemann donated them to the city of Berlin, which allowed him to become an honorary citizen of Berlin. Since 1945, the Trojan Treasure, taken as a trophy during the Second World War, has been located in Moscow in the Pushkin Museum. A.S. Pushkin.

Many still doubt that Schliemann discovered the very Troy, but one way or another, most scientists today are inclined to believe that Schliemann was still right, “Troy has been excavated, and there is no second.”

Sasha Mitrakhovich 30.10.2015 10:46

Modern science identifies 9 main cultural layers of Troy

• Troy I— The oldest archaeological traces of Troy date back to 2900 - 2500. BC e. Troy I was a small settlement and even at the height of its existence had a diameter of only 100 m. Despite its modest size, Troy I had a fortress with massive walls, gates and towers made of rough stone. This settlement existed for almost five centuries and, most likely, was destroyed by fire.
• Troy II- Despite the fact that Troy I was destroyed by fire, it arose on the site of the ashes Troy II represents the rebirth of a lost city. The second cultural layer of Troy (2500-2300 BC) is one of the most impressive archaeological sites of the Early Bronze Age. Many treasures were discovered in this layer, including the treasure discovered by Schliemann, which he hastily called the “Treasure of Priam.” All these treasures of gold, silver, bronze and copper indicate active trading activity in the city. However, Troy II also collapsed, but as a result of a sudden attack, as evidenced by the discovered traces of deliberate destruction.
• Troy III, IV and V- Troy III, IV and V are already larger settlements that existed from 2300-1800. BC e. Over the centuries, the city's citadel has grown, but no concrete traces of the city's development are observed; on the contrary, traces of the city's decline have been discovered. In these settlements there are already groups of small houses standing close to one another, separated by small streets. Troy V was again destroyed by fire.
• Troy VI and VII— During this period, a new royal palace-citadel was built in Troy. In size, the new citadel surpassed not only the old one, but also any other in western Asia Minor. Made of hewn stone and reinforced with massive towers, the new fortress walls of the city were 4 to 5 m thick. All this testifies to wealth, prosperity and power Troy in this period. But large vertical faults on the fortress wall in the VI cultural layer of Troy(1800-1250 BC) , indicate that a strong earthquake occurred. After the earthquake, life began to emerge again at the site of the destroyed settlement. The Trojan War and the events mentioned by Homer in the Iliad refer to either Troy VI or Troy VII (1250-1025 BC).
• Troy VIII and IX— According to modern scientists, the Greeks settled Troy, abandoned after the war, 250 years later, that is, during the life of Homer. At first, a small settlement arose on the site of old Troy, then the city grew. On the territory of Troy there was a temple to Athena, as well as a sanctuary for sacrifices (900-85 BC). According to Arrian (ancient Greek historian and geographer), Alexander the Great made a pilgrimage to Troy and visited the temple of Athena. From the Temple of Athena, only a few fragments of altars and marble fragments have reached us. With the growing power of the Roman state, a legend arose that it was the descendants of the Trojan Aeneas who founded Rome. That's why the Romans honored Troy. Gaius Julius Caesar ordered the expansion of the temple of Athena after his visit there in 48 BC. Augustus, who replaced him, also ordered the construction of a bouleuterion (council hall) and an odion for musical performances in the “sacred Ilium”.

Sasha Mitrakhovich 30.10.2015 10:49

To the south of Troy are the ruins of another city, Alexandrea-Troas, which was founded in the 4th century BC. It was later captured by Alexander the Great and renamed in his honor. Near Alexandrea Troas is ancient city Ass or Behramkale. It is picturesquely located on a hill surrounded by dilapidated walls. In Assa, during the times of Plato and Aristotle, a fairly well-known philosophical school at that time was founded; many famous philosophers visited it. The attractions of Assa include the Murad Mosque, which was built on the remains of a Byzantine church, numerous tombs, and caravanserais, which today have been rebuilt as hotels.

If you are coming from closest to Troy small townÇanakkale, located 30 km from it, it is very easy to get to Troy. A regular intercity bus leaves this city regularly once an hour. His ring is located under the bridge near the Sari River. Travel time to your destination is usually half an hour. You will have to pay for a bus ticket a small amount- only three Turkish lira.

Be sure to check what time the last return bus to Canakkale leaves. You can get from Istanbul to Canakkale if you use intercity buses. The flight to Canakkale departs three times a day from the bus station near the Otogar metro station. True, you will have to spend about seven hours on the road.

Sasha Mitrakhovich 30.10.2015 10:54

“Whatever it is, fear the Danaans, even those who bring gifts!” - even those who are superficially familiar with the ancient Greek epic have heard this catchphrase-warning. The city of Troy was defeated through their own curiosity: the inhabitants themselves dragged warriors hidden in a wooden horse into its territory. Troy was captured and destroyed. Destroyed to the ground? How do we know about this? AND where is Troy?

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"Who is from the gods immortal feat them to a hostile dispute?

The events of those distant days are described in Homer’s poem “The Iliad” - the oldest ancient Greek work found. The poem is based on folklore tales of exploits dating back to the 9th-8th centuries BC. e. The capital of the Trojan kingdom was then called Ilion, and the songs describe the last months of the ten-year siege of Troy by the Danaans. Even the gods of Olympus were involved in the conflict that arose because of the beautiful Helen stolen by Paris. Some supported the Danaans, others helped the Trojans. The war lasted 10 years, and it seemed there would be no end to it. However, the cunning king of Ithaca, Odysseus, realized his insidious plan by building a hollow wooden horse in which he hid the best Greek warriors. The naive residents of Troy lost their vigilance and dragged the gift into the city. At night, the Danaans got out, opened the gates to their comrades and captured Troy. It would seem that this is just another myth, where there is truth and where there is fiction - it is no longer possible to find out, but in the 19th century it turned out that the city actually existed!

In Search of Troy

The German archaeologist Heinrich Schliemann was fond of archeology and was literally obsessed with the idea of ​​finding an ancient city and giving a clear answer to the question: where is Troy. He carefully studied the poem and, having reflected on the guesses of his predecessors, made the assumption that Troy was located somewhere near the Dardanelles Strait in Turkey. In 1870, during excavations, the ruins of a city were discovered, which clearly had great importance for the unknown ancient inhabitants. Former towers, dilapidated walls of fortifications and the altar of the once luxurious temple of Aphrodite confirmed - “Troy has been excavated, and there is no second.”

Archaeologists were able to discover nine cultural layers - Troy was destroyed and rebuilt several times. Earthquakes and wars were so merciless that now it is difficult to guess whether it is a simple cobblestone or part of someone’s home. Traces of a fire were noted, which Homer also mentioned. But Schliemann found no traces of Greek attacks, nor a gift from the Danaans. So was there really a horse? According to modern calculations, the wooden giant should have exceeded seven meters in height and had a width of about three meters. To accommodate two dozen armed people - minimal amount warriors mentioned in the epics - the horse had to weigh about two tons!

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This question remains relevant for researchers. It is possible that it was not even a deadly gift, but a ram captured from the enemies. The Trojans brought it into the city as a trophy, but in the confusion they did not notice that armed opponents were hiding in the belly. But be that as it may, the phraseological unit, meaning evil intent or an insidious plan, has become popular among the people and is actively used. For example, this is where the name of computer viruses – “Trojans” – comes from.

Today, tourists from all over the world come to see the ruins of the legendary city. Troy is located far from popular holiday destinations and, but you can get here in several ways - by water and land. The closest and most convenient place is from the port city of Canakkale. To the delight of children and adults, upon entering the territory, guests are greeted by a huge wooden horse, into which you can climb, feeling like you are part of the legendary history.

Kaluga region, Borovsky district, Petrovo village

A cozy tea and coffee shop is a corner of calm and pleasant relaxation next to a noisy, crowded and cheerful street Mira. In the midst of walking home different nations Australia, Asia, Africa and Latin America look into the chamber. You will find small tables for two, a subdued atmosphere, traditional interior elements and, of course, first-class coffee prepared according to all the rules - in a Turk on a special titanium for sand! You will not only try the drink, but also learn how to prepare it correctly: on Saturdays and Sundays at 12:00 the cafe hosts a free master class!

In addition, at your service is a large selection of fresh, tasty, most beloved oriental sweets: sweet Turkish delight, honey baklava, juicy dates, golden halva...