Turkey/Troy

Hotel Cartoon Istanbul

Country European Turkey (East Thrace)

Day 3 :following an interesting night in the Cartoon Hotel (air conditioners not working and the windows open directly onto Taksim Square--where they party all night) in Istanbul, 

We headed into Turkish Thrace which is European Turkey.  This is beautiful country with rolling hills bordering the Sea of Marmara and the Dardanelles.

Peninsula of Gallipoli

The Peninsula of Gallipoli is located in East Thrace.  With the Aegean sea to the west and the Dardanelles straits to the east.  In early 1915 the Battle of Gallipoli pitted the Allied Forces and most notably the ANZAC (Australian and New Zealand Armed Corps) vs the Turks (part of the Axis).  The landing went wrong allowing Ottoman Turks to reinforce their positions.  They were never dislodged from the heights.  Churchill gave up on the idea of a quick defeat of the Ottomans.

Trojan Horse  Troy

 According to Virgil's Aeneid, after a 10-year siege the Greeks constructed a huge wooden horse and hid 30 elite men inside.  The Greeks pretended to sail away and the Trojans pulled the horse inside the previously impenetrable walls (see below).  Of course we were fortunate to be able to see the actual Trojan Horse and were amazed at how well it has held up since 1200 BC.

 Homer's Iliad immortalized the Trojan War, thought for many years to be a myth, Heinrich Schliemann, a pioneer in archeology used the Homeric poem to locate the site and excavate what ended up being nine separate periods or layers(from 3000 BC to 100 BC) of settlement including a temple and theater and of course the horse (seen above).

Portion of the legendary walls of Troy (VII),  site of the Trojan War (ca. 1200 BC)

Temple of Athena Troy

According to Acts 16:8, the Apostle Paul visited Troas in the same area as Troy during his second missionary journey.  He had a vision of a man of Macedonia imploring him "Come over to Macedonia and help us" (Acts 16:9)and in response he and his companions set sail to Macedonia








 



Acts 20:6 in his third mission he sailed from Philippi to Troas after the days of unleavened bread (passover) where he stayed for 7 days.  The Acts account tells of Paul engaged in a lengthy discussion in an upstairs room at Troas.  Paul was rather long-winded, continuing his talk until midnight.  A young man, Eutychus, sitting in a window dozed off and fell out the window.  Having fallen three stories, the young man was believed to be dead.  Paul, however picked him up, indicating he was alive and returned upstairs continuing his discussion until dawn, at which point he left for Assos.  Acts does not indicate if he took photos with the Trojan Horse or not.

Nine Archeological Layers of Troy

Dardanelles from Truvaotel in Canakkale

Prior to our visit to Troy we took a ferry ride across the Dardanelles straits to arrive in Asian Turkey.  Canakkale is the city closest to Troy and hotel (Truvaotel) had big windows that opened up to a view of the Dardanelles (right).  A little different atmosphere than the Hotel Cartoon in Istanbul... of course we were now on a different continent.