Wednesday, April 23, 2025
Today our morning included shore excursion was to the ruins of Troy, where excavations have revealed layers of nine cities, including one noted by Homer in The Iliad.
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Although the Trojan Horse may be a myth,
there are Trojan Horses everywhere;
this one was built in 1975 by
İzzet Senemoğlu, a Turkish architect |
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The Pithos Garden contained the man-sized pithos/
storage container (dating from 7-4C BCE) and
water pipes (c 85 BCE to 500 CE) of clay
made with ends that fit together |
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We had canine escorts
including this German Shepherd |
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| Eastern wall of Troy VI (c 1700-1275 BCE) |
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| Papaver glaucum/Turkish Poppies |
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A false wall joint making it look like
two abutting sections of wall, which
normally would be weaker than mid-wall |
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The gate of the eastern wall makes two
tight turns to prevent use of a battering ram |
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Troy sat on the hill of Hisarlık, and each layer made it
a more imposing height over the land; however, although
it once was located at the entrance to the Dardanelles Strait,
it is now 4.5 km/2.8 miles from the sea |
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This and the photo above show the ruins
of the Temple of Athena of Troy VIII-IX
(c 950 BCE-550 CE) |
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| Remains of a coffered ceiling from the Temple of Athena |
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| Citadel wall of Troy II-III (c 2550-1750 BCE) |
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Reconstruction of the citadel mud-brick
wall over the original stone base |
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Heinrich Schliemann was an amateur
archaeologist who had trenches dug as a
shortcut to finding the treasure of Priam,
but destroyed ruins in the upper layers |
Schliemann did find treasure, but it was in the layer of Troy II (c 2550-2300 BCE), prior to the time of Priam (Troy VII - c 1750-1300 BCE). Schliemann smuggled the artifacts out of Turkey to Germany, where they were hidden. Apparently when the Russian Red Army captured Berlin in WWII, they obtained "Priam's Treasure." Finally in 1994, the Pushkin Museum in Moscow admitted they had most of the artifacts.
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| A section of ruins where several layers are labeled |
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| Site of a well (c 300 BCE) |
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Ramp of the citadel of Troy II (c 2550-2300 BCE); it was to
the left of this ramp that Schliemann found his treasure |
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Ruins of the Palace House of Troy VI (c 1750-1300 BCE)
(just maybe Priam lived here?) |
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| Sanctuary of Troy VIII-IX (c 950 BCE-550 CE) |
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| Ferula communis/Giant Fennel in bloom |
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| Odeon of Troy IX (c 950 BCE-550 CE) |
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| New excavation |
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| South Gate of Troy VI-VII (c 1750-1300 BCE) |
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| Bouleuterion/Council Hall of Troy VIII-IX (c 950 BCE-550 CE) |
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Back to the Trojan Horse (one can
no longer climb up inside) |
We drove to the city of Çanakkale, known for its brown, green and yellow glazed ceramics.
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| McDonald's |
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| McDonald's meal for about $5 |
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| "Hugging" statue |
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| Ferry boat |
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| McDonald's AND Burger King |
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| Çanakkale Marina |
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| Basketball half-court and pickleball court |
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Another Trojan Horse, used in the 2004
film of Troy (starring Brad Pitt) |
On our own:
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Memorial to the Turkish soldiers who fought at
Gallipoli, with the first verse of a poem translated as:
Stop wayfarer! Unbeknownst to you this ground
you come and tread on, is where an epoch lies..
Bend down and lend your ear, for this silent mound,
is the place where the heart of a nation sighs.
(date unknown, by Necmettin Halil Onan) |
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| Çanakkale Saat Kulesi/Clock Tower (1897) |
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Döner kebab is seasoned meat on a
vertical rotisserie that is shaved and often
served in a dürüm/wrap |
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| Shooting gallery on the street! |
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| Çanakkale Deniz Müzesi/Naval Museum |
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İstimbotu/Steamboat 'Kartal', on which Mustafa Kemal
Atatürk stated "As they have come, so they will go"
during the Allied occupation of İstanbul in 1918 |
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M/G Acar was used to transport Mustafa Kemal Atatürk
to his yacht 'Savarona' or for local sea excursions |
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| Naval Museum mural of Atatürk |
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Çanakkale Savaşında Kullanılan/cannon
used in the Battle of Gallipoli (1915-1916) |
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Sculpture of Horse-headed Pitcher
(2000, by Ismail Bütün and Eşref Eriç)
that was typical of the ceramics of Çanakkale |
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Cumhuriyet Meydanı/Republic Square
with a statue of Atatürk |
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Republic Square decorated for National Sovereignity
& Children's Day today |
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Loud music was playing and it seemed
all the crew were out to welcome
the passengers back on board |
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| The crew was also passing out drinks |
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| Türkiye Sahil Güvenlik/Turkish Coast Guard boat |
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| Working on a 1500-piece jigsaw puzzle |
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While working on the puzzle, we often had
musical entertainment in the atrium below |
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