(Part 1) Traversing Turkey: Troy and the Trojan Horse

- Dec. 22, 2019, Sunday.

- Turkey has always been part of my travel bucket list especially after studying about it and watching a Turkish period series called "Muhtesem Yuzyil" ("Magnificent Century;" it's a series about Sultan Suleyman the Magnificent's 40-year reign over Ottoman Turkey in the 1500s.) Finally, I had the chance to visit this "magnificent" country, especially after finding out that tour prices in Turkey are relatively cheaper compared to other nearby countries. It also helps that there is a direct flight to Turkey (Istanbul specifically, via Turkish Airlines) from Manila, and Filipino passport holders with valid visas to the USA, UK, Schengen Area, and Canada can avail an e-visa, which is cheaper and less hassling than a regular visa.

- I reluctantly decided to let my family join a tour through Mulan Travel Service Corp. after realizing that commuting to the scattered must-see cities of Turkey is a bit difficult compared to my experiences in some other countries. In some areas, intra-city/region commute can be challenging too, unless you're willing to carry your luggage around many different modes of transportation en route another city, or rent a car and drive yourself from city to city. Since recent tour packages to Turkey appear reasonably-priced, I thought joining a package tour was the best way to go.

- After an early morning arrival in Ataturk International Airport,  our tour group immediately proceeded to the province of Canakkale (pronounced "cha-nak-kale") in the Aegean Region south of Istanbul. To go there, not only did our bus travel through land, but also through water. Our whole bus had to drive to a roll-on-roll-off ("ro-ro") ship, sail for 15 minutes through the Sea of Marmara, and drive once more after docking.

Welcome to Istanbul!!

Camlica Masjid (the mosque) and a radio tower.

The Sea of Marmara.

- At around 3pm, we arrived at Troy (known as "Troya" or "Truva" in Turkey.) To the surprise of many, this city is actually in modern-day Turkey, not in Greece. And yes, this is the Troy as in "Helen of Troy." Of course, the most important "landmark"/statue of Troy is the Trojan Horse. The Trojan Horse was used by the Greeks to enter Troy during the Trojan War; the horse was presented as a gift while the Greeks hid inside the horse. When the horse was placed in the city square as a form of war trophy, the Greeks inside the horse sneaked out on their first night in the city, opened the city's gates for other Greek soldiers to enter. The Greeks attacked and ended the Trojan War. The veracity of this war, which is said to have happened some time between 12th-13th century BC, however, is still being debated by historians. This war was also mentioned in Home's the Iliad and the Odyssey. Today, the Trojan horses (yes, plural,) that stand in the city are modern "replicas" (if indeed the war happened, that is.) One model of the Trojan Horse was used in the 2004 Hollywood movie "Troy" (starring Brad Pitt and other big stars,) and was given to the city of Troy as a gift (don't worry, no hiding Greeks in the horse this time.) This model is located in the central downtown area. The other model, the one we saw, stands in front of the Troy Archaeological Park.

You can go inside the horse. I didn't bother since it was hollow inside, I was told. Also, as we were in a tour, we always had to hurry ourselves.

I like how the horse looks. It looks like a giant toy.

My GrabShare is here.

- The park contains more than 4000 years of early Anatolian history. It is nearly impossible to excavate the whole place, as with many ancient cities, because throughout the millennia, a new "Troy" was built on an old "Troy" that was destroyed by wars or natural calamities; there were nine incarnations of the city of Troy. This is why different parts of the park show different eras of Trojan history, and in some cases, layers of different cities throughout history.

Olive tree shading what's left of the Temple of Athena.

Some of the oldest buildings of Troy.

Most of these buildings were not reconstructed.

More olive trees.

Old wells.

The odeon (I just learned that an odeon is a semi-circle with the stage in front of the seats, and an ampitheater has seats around a circular/oval stage.)

- My visit to the archaeological park was a great way to start my journey across the Anatolia (Anatolia by the way is one of the old names that was used to refer to the majority of modern-day Turkey.) Not only did we see one of its most iconic statues, but we had a good understanding of the beginnings of Turkish history, and more interestingly, the cultural influences that truly make this country a marriage of the east and the west!!

- Don't forget to read about my other adventures in Turkey:

Part 2, Virgin Mary's House and Ephesus: here

Part 3, Laodicea on the Lycus and the Alien Travertines: here

Part 4, Konya: here

Part 5, Cappadocia: here

Part 6, Istanbul's Royal Old Town: here

Part 7, Istanbul Between Continents: here

Part 8, Istanbul's Secrets: here

Part 9, Istanbul on New Year's Eve: here