Ferry to from European to Asian Turkey
Leaving the
area around Gallipoli I got to the ferry - to gross the narrow straight at the
Dardanelles which separates Europe and Asia. When
I got to the ferry there it was Asia in the
distance. To the surprise of many of my friends and people I know this would
actually be the first time ever I went to Asia - not counting the stops in the
airports of Bangkok, Singapore
and Kuala Lumpur.
Everybody seems to assume if you have travelled abroad more than a couple of
times you must have been to Asia somewhere
along the way but no in my case.
Safely
across the ferry in Asia in the land of so many old myth of strange people and
strange cultures - but it did actually look quite a lot like the European side
of Turkey - both the people, the landscape and the cities were more or less the
same.
Trojan horse - a replica
After all it is a small fairly integrated world.
When safely
in Asia it was on to see one special sight - the ancient city of Troy.
Troy - few ancient cities names sound
more familiar than this one. The name well known to almost everyone thanks to Hollywood who has retold the ancient stories of Troy. The original reason Troy got its fame is due to the epic work Iliad by Homer
in ancient Greece.
This story with the figures of Achilles, Hector, Paris and Helen was part of
the classes of ancient history in high school. Hence when I was 17-18 I read
the story of Troy
with great enthusiasm - yeah right I read it because I kind of had to if I
wanted a semi decent grade in the class.
more old stuff in Troja
Before the trips I wanted to pick up a
copy in the bookshop to actually reread the story during my trip but as usual I
did not make it to the bookshop in time and they are not selling the Iliad in
the airport.
The reason
I went to Troy
were Homer - without his stories nobody would go there. Then what is around at
the ancient sight? The answer - not much. There are a few leftovers from the
old city but most of it has been levelled to the ground many years ago. Hence
what is there is primarily rubbles and a small not to interesting museum - and
the main sight of the place a replica of the Trojan horse.
Do I have
any regrets about going? No a place so famous you kind of have to go just to
see it for yourself - then you can draw your conclusion that there is really
nothing to see around there. If I had just pasted Troy because everybody told there was nothing
there would always have been a bit of doubt in the back of my mind - were they
really right is there nothing there?
After Troy it is on to Selcuk
in a hotel with a very nice pool.
Troy - old rubbles
When you go to Turkey you will find a country with lots and lots of marble - supposedly there is more marble in Turkey than any other country on earth. So you will be able to go from one ancient site to the next and experience the marvellous ancient constructions. And then you go to Troy - and what do you find - mainly rubbles.
The area of Troy is probably the most famous of all the sites from ancient history maybe except for a few major cities like Rome, Athens and Thebes. But contrary to those big cities there's is not much to see in Troy today - you will find a few ancient ruins which are not really remarkable by any standard and certainly not by the high mark the ancient sites in Turkey sets.
The main reason people go to Troy is because of the fame the place which it got when Homer in one of the most famous writings from ancient times - the Iliad - told the story of the beautiful Helen who were taken from her husband Menelaus. Achilles led the attempt to get Helen back which took him to the city of Troy to which he laid siege but without any fast success. In the end the Greek made a giant horse and left - the locals took in the horse as a sign of peace but of course it was indeed full of soldiers.
Today in the ruins of Troy you will find a giant replica of this legendary horse and you can also see the remains of the city from the different faces - but if you come waiting for the fair Helen and Greek heroes in the bustling streets you will not find it.
