Troy tourist hotspot since ancient era

ÇANAKKALE

Excavations in the ancient city of Troy, which is located in the northwestern province of Çanakkale and considered one of the important areas of archaeological studies in the world, have revealed that the region was a favorite of tourists 2,500 years ago, too.

This year is the 156th term of the excavations in the ancient city, a UNESCO World Heritage site.

Excavations in this magnificent archaeological city within the borders of Tevfikiye village were first carried out by Heinrich Schliemann in 1871, then by Wilhelm Dörpfeld and Carl W. Blegen.

The ancient city was declared “Troy National Park” by the Culture and Tourism Ministry in 1996 and an application was made to UNESCO with the proposal of Manfred Osman Korfmann. The ancient city of Troy, which was inscribed on the UNESCO World Cultural Heritage List in 1998, became one of the most recognized ancient cities in the world. Troy’s fame reached a high level thanks to the film “Troy,” starring Brad Pitt.

Under the main sponsorship of İÇDAŞ, the finds uncovered during the works carried out in the ancient city shed light on detailed information about the region.

The head of excavations, Professor Rüstem Aslan said that they reached different and new information at any time during the excavations carried out in different areas in the region.

“In this year’s work, especially in the excavations in the Agora field, we have found both architectural and small finds telling us that this place was used as a sanctuary in front of the southern gate since the archaic period. We can also see good examples of what we define here as terracotta, which we know from other sacred sites of Troy at that time. These materials that we have obtained from the excavations also give us an example of the culture and life of Troy. In a sense, we can say that Troy’s popularity 2,500 years ago has emerged,” he said.

Aslan also reminded that these small finds were souvenirs sold in Troy at that time and that some of them were made up of important materials that were taken as gifts to other countries.

Aslan stated that every area in the ancient city points to information about the popularity of Troy at that time, adding, “We can clearly say that a small statuette or a hand-carved product shows how advanced the handicraft in the region was. Thanks to the finds, we see that the ancient city of Troy was a place that was visited, visited, known and noticed for thousands of years.”

Çanakkale Onsekiz Mart University history department member Associate Professor Reyhan Körpe also said that Troy attracted great attention not only in this period but also in ancient times.

The finds showed that there was a large sanctuary in this region, Körpe said, adding, “Not only the sanctuary, but also an important entrance to Troy. An important street with shops around, an important entrance. Of course, this road was very important in ancient times. The finds seen here were commercially sold to tourists.”

He said that Troy attracted many tourists in recent years.

“It attracts very modern tourists, but Troy was also one of the most important tourism centers of the ancient times. From the 6th century B.C. onwards, hundreds of tourists came here from all the ancient world until the end of the Roman Empire. We can say that the region has been under a heavy influx of visitors for 2,500 years and that it was a favorite of tourists 2,500 years ago.”