Troy (Greek: Τροία, written in Roman letters as Troíā; Hittite: 𒆳𒌷𒋫𒊒𒄿𒊭, written in Roman letters as Truwiša / Taruiša; Latin: Troia) or Ilion (Greek: Ἴλιον, written in Roman letters as Ī́lion; Hittite: 𒌷𒃾𒇻𒊭, written in Roman letters as Wiluša) was an ancient city located in present-day Çanakkale, Turkey. It is best known as the setting for the Greek myth of the Trojan War. The archaeological site is open to the public as a tourist destination and was added to the UNESCO World Heritage list in 1998.
Troy was destroyed and rebuilt many times over its 4,000 years of settlement. As a result, nine archaeological layers have been found at the site, each showing a city built on the ruins of the one before it. Archaeologists use Roman numerals to name these layers, with Troy I being the oldest and Troy IX the most recent.
Troy was first settled around 3600 BC and became a small, protected city around 3000 BC (Troy I). Among the early layers, Troy II is known for its wealth and large buildings. During the Late Bronze Age, Troy was called Wilusa and was a subject of the Hittite Empire. The final layers (Troy VIII–IX) were Greek and Roman cities that became tourist attractions and religious centers because of their connection to myths.
The site was first explored by Heinrich Schliemann and Frank Calvert beginning in 1871. Under the ruins of the classical city, they found remains of many older settlements. Some of these layers match descriptions from ancient stories, leading some scholars to believe there may be some truth behind the legends. Later excavations by other researchers have helped improve understanding of the site, but the exact connection between the myths and real events is still unclear. There is no clear evidence that Greek forces attacked the city.
Name
In Classical Greek, the city was called Troia (Τροία) and also known as Ilion (Ἴλιον) or Ilios (Ἴλιος). Evidence from the rhythm of the poems Iliad and Odyssey shows that the name Ilion was originally pronounced "Wilios." These names are believed to be from the Bronze Age, as ancient Hittite records mention a city in northwest Anatolia named Wilusa (𒌷𒃾𒇻𒊭) or Truwisa (𒆳𒌷𒋫𒊒𒄿𒊭). This city is now thought to be the archaeological site of Hisarlık, near Tevfikiye. In Greek myths, these names were believed to come from the names of the city's founders, Tros and his son Ilus.
In Latin, the city was called Troia or Ilium. In Turkish, it is generally known as Troya or Truva.
Archaeological site
The archaeological site of Troy includes the hill of Hisarlık and the fields to the south. The hill is a tell, made up of layers of soil and materials left behind by people living there for more than three thousand years.
The layers are divided into main groups labeled with Roman numerals. Troy I is the oldest layer, and Troy IX is the most recent. Sublayers are labeled with lowercase letters (like VIIa and VIIb), and smaller sections are labeled with numbers (like VIIb1 and VIIb2). There is also an older layer called Troy 0, which existed before the layers labeled with Roman numerals.
Archaeologists estimate the dates of these layers by comparing items found at Troy to items found at other places. However, exact dates are not always clear because the method used to find dates, called radiocarbon dating, is not always very precise.
Troy 0 is a layer from before the Bronze Age. It has been found in limited amounts, including pieces of pottery and wooden beams. It is thought to be from about 3600 to 3500 BC, but not much is known about it.
Troy I was built around 3000 BC on the eastern shore of a shallow lagoon. It was smaller than later cities at the site, with a citadel covering less than one hectare. However, it had strong limestone walls that were often repaired and strengthened. These strong walls were a common feature in later periods, showing that people were always worried about safety at this coastal location.
People lived in homes made of stone and mudbrick. Some homes had a megaron layout, which includes one large room. Although the city's layout is not fully understood, homes seem to have been arranged parallel to the southern walls. Items from this time include dark-colored handmade pottery, copper objects, and a large stone stele with a relief of a warrior.
Troy I was built as part of a larger effort to settle the area. Its people came from nearby towns like Kumtepe and Gülpınar, which were connected to other places in the eastern Aegean and southeastern Europe. Troy itself had similar connections to sites in Thessaly, southeastern Europe, and places like Poliochni in Lemnos and Thermi in Lesbos. It also had some links to Anatolian sites like Bademağacı, but not as strong links to central Anatolia as later periods.
Troy I was destroyed by fire around 2550 BC.
Troy II was built around 2550 BC. Although there is no clear sign of a cultural change after Troy I, the new city was much larger. It had a lower town and a citadel split into two parts. These parts, separated by colonnades, suggest that society was becoming more organized. At the center were large buildings with a courtyard, likely used for public events. One of these, called Megaron IIA, was the largest of its kind in the Aegean-Anatolian region.
The citadel was protected by large stone walls and towers with mudbrick tops. It had two ramps, one of which is still well-preserved and visited by tourists. Since the city was not large enough to need two gates, some archaeologists think one gate may have been used for ceremonies. The lower city had a wooden wall unlike any other from that time. It was nearly 3 meters wide, with supports and beams held in notches in the rock.
For the first time, pottery made on a wheel appeared, along with treasures showing that Troy was part of networks where aristocrats competed. These items included amber from the Baltic, carnelian from India, and lapis from Afghanistan. Some of these items are similar to those found at sites like Poliochni and Ur, leading some to think itinerant jewelers may have made them.
Troy II was destroyed twice. After the first destruction, the citadel was rebuilt with small homes in an irregular layout. The final destruction happened around 2300 BC. Some scholars think this was part of a larger crisis affecting other sites, but there is no proof the city was attacked.
Troy II was once mistakenly thought to be the Homeric Troy because of its large buildings, treasure, and destruction. Schliemann, an early archaeologist, believed the city’s western gate matched Homer’s description of the Scaean Gate. However, later research showed Troy II was too old to have existed at the same time as the Mycenaean Greeks.
Troy was occupied from 2300 BC to 1750 BC, but little is known about these layers because of Schliemann’s poor excavation methods. He destroyed most remains from this time without recording them. These settlements may have been smaller and poorer than earlier ones, but this could be due to missing evidence. A dense neighborhood in the citadel existed, and walls from Troy II may have been reused in Troy III (about 2350/2300 to 2200/2150 BC).
Troy IV (about 2000–1820 BC) introduced domed ovens, and for the first time, houses were built with mudbrick without stone foundations.
By the time of Troy V (about 1820–1750 BC), the city had expanded west of the citadel. Items from this period include Anatolian-style "red-cross bowls" and Minoan imports. The city traded with nearby places, and earthquakes in the 18th century damaged parts of Troy V, including homes.
Troy VI–VII was a major city during the Late Bronze Age, with a steep citadel and a large lower town. It was a busy coastal city, similar in size to second-tier Hittite settlements. It had a unique Northwest Anatolian culture and many foreign connections, including with Mycenaean Greece. Its location at the mouth of the Dardanelles may have made it a regional capital, protected by treaties. Some parts of its architecture match the Iliad’s description of mythic Troy, and layers VIh and VIIa show signs of violent destruction, making them possible settings for the myths.
Early excavators labeled Troy VI and VII separately, but modern research shows the early layers of Troy VII were part of the earlier city. Some scholars suggest changing the labels to reflect this, but the original terms are still used to avoid confusion.
Late Bronze Age Troy includes parts of the layers called Troy VI and Troy VII. Troy VI was built around 1750 BC and its final layer, Troy VIh, was destroyed around 1300 BC. The early layers of Troy VII were from the late Mycenaean period and the Hittite Empire. Later layers were from the Greek Dark Ages and the Neo-Hittite states.
Troy VI and VII were given separate labels by early excavators, but current research shows the
Excavation history
Early modern travelers in the 16th and 17th centuries, such as Pierre Belon and Pietro Della Valle, incorrectly believed that Troy was located at Alexandria Troas, a ruined town about 20 kilometers (12 miles) south of Hisarlık. In the late 18th century, Jean Baptiste LeChevalier identified a site near the village of Pınarbaşı, Ezine, which was a mound about 5 kilometers (3.1 miles) south of the location now accepted as Troy. He published his findings in a book called Voyage de la Troade, and this location was considered the most likely for nearly 100 years.
In 1822, Charles Maclaren, a Scottish journalist, was the first to confidently identify the current location of the city. The first excavations at the site were trenches dug by John Brunton, a British civil engineer, in 1855.
In 1865, Frank Calvert, a man of English descent living in Turkey, conducted the next excavation at Hisarlık. He studied the site carefully and correctly identified it as classical-era Ilion. This discovery convinced Heinrich Schliemann, a German businessman, that the legendary Homeric Troy might be buried beneath the classical ruins. This led to a partnership between Schliemann and Calvert.
In 1868, Schliemann visited Calvert and received permission to excavate Hisarlık. At that time, the mound was about 200 meters long, less than 150 meters wide, and rose 31.2 meters above the plain and 38.5 meters above sea level.
In April 1870, Schliemann began digging a trench across the mound, which is now called "Schliemann's Trench." Between 1871–1873 and 1878–1879, and again in 1882 and 1890 (with Wilhelm Dörpfeld joining later), Schliemann uncovered ruins of ancient cities dating from the Bronze Age to the Roman period. Schliemann planned to return for another season in 1891 but died in December 1890. He believed the second layer of ruins, called Troy II, was the legendary city, though later research showed it was older than the Mycenaean era. Important finds included "owl-headed idols" and stone axes from lower levels.
Many of Schliemann’s most famous discoveries, known as "Priam's Treasure" after the legendary Trojan king, are now in the Istanbul Archaeology Museum. Most of the precious metal items sent to Berlin were taken by the Soviet Union in 1945 and are now in the Pushkin Museum in Moscow. Schliemann’s methods, which included removing parts of the site without proper study, were controversial even during his time.
Wilhelm Dörpfeld worked with Schliemann from 1893–1894 and later took over the excavation. He focused on Troy VI and VII, which Schliemann had ignored. Dörpfeld found a weak section of the Troy VI wall, which reminded him of the mythic city’s walls, and believed this layer was Homeric Troy. Schliemann privately agreed but never published this idea.
Carl Blegen, a professor at the University of Cincinnati, managed the site from 1932–1938. He and Dörpfeld studied the site with more professional methods than Schliemann. Blegen found at least nine cities and divided their levels into 46 sublevels. His work showed a 100-year gap between Troy III and Troy IV, suggesting that the city’s population may have been smaller during the late Early Bronze Age.
From 1988 to 2005, excavations were led by Professor Manfred Korfmann of the University of Tübingen and the University of Cincinnati, with Brian Rose studying later periods. Evidence of a battle, such as bronze arrowheads and fire-damaged remains, was found in layers from the early 12th century BC. Korfmann and historian Frank Kolb debated the role of Troy VI in the Bronze Age from 2001–2002.
A major discovery was the Troy VI–VII lower city, which had a defensive ditch and wooden wall. This expanded the city’s size to about 200,000 square meters, changing how the site was understood.
Radiocarbon dating of charcoal from the Troy I level provided dates for different phases. From 2006–2012, excavations continued under Ernst Pernicka, a colleague of Korfmann. In 2013, an international team led by William Aylward planned new digs using "molecular archaeology," but the Turkish government canceled permits, including theirs.
Since 2014, excavations have been led by Rüstem Aslan of Çanakkale Onsekiz Mart University. His team claims to have found a "Level 0" near the entrance of Troy II, which could push the city’s history back 600 years. Since 2016, the University of Amsterdam has studied the 150-year history of excavations at the site.
Historical Troy
Troy I–V existed before writing was invented, so we know about them only through what archaeologists have found. However, written records about the city appear starting with the Late Bronze Age Troy VI and continue into the Greek and Roman era Troy VIII-IX.
Troy VI–VII is believed to be the city called Wilusa and Taruisa in Hittite records. These connections were first suggested in 1924 by E. Forrer because of similarities in the names, as "Taruisa" sounds like the Greek name "Troia" and "Wilusa" sounds like the Greek name "Wilios" (later "Ilion"). Later research has made these connections more certain, though some scholars still debate them. Texts about Wilusa are important because they show that Wilusa was near Mycenaean Greece, which the Hittites called Ahhiyawa.
Wilusa first appears in Hittite records around 1400 BC, when it was part of the Assuwa Confederation, a group of 22 states that tried to fight the Hittite Empire but failed. Some evidence suggests that Ahhiyawa may have helped Wilusa rebel. By the late 1300s BC, Wilusa became friendly with the Hittites. Records from this time mention two kings, Kukkunni and Alaksandu, who had peaceful relations with the Hittites while other nearby states did not. Wilusan soldiers might have fought in the Hittite army during the Battle of Kadesh. Later, Wilusa faced political problems, like other nearby cities. Letters from the Manapa-Tarhunta and Tawagalawa periods suggest that a Wilusan king either rebelled or was removed from power. This turmoil may have been linked to Piyamaradu, a warlord who opposed the Hittites on behalf of Ahhiyawa. However, Piyamaradu is never directly named as the cause, and some details in the texts suggest he was not involved. The last mention of Wilusa in historical records is in the Milawata letter, where the Hittite king Tudhaliya IV says he plans to restore a Wilusan king named Walmu.
In popular stories, these events have been used to support the idea that the Trojan War had some real history. However, scholars have not found proof of any specific event from the legends, and Hittite records do not mention Wilusa being attacked by Greeks or Ahhiyawa. Hittiteologist Trevor Bryce warns that without clear evidence, people can easily shape stories to fit their own ideas.
According to Herodotus, the Persian king Xerxes sacrificed 1,000 cattle at the sanctuary of Athena Ilias while marching toward Greece. After the Persian defeat in 480–479 BC, Ilion and its land became part of Mytilene’s territory and stayed under Mytilenean control until the failed Mytilenean revolt in 428–427 BC. Athens later freed the Actaean cities, including Ilion, and added them to the Delian League. Athenian influence in the Hellespont weakened after the oligarchic coup of 411 BC, and that year, the Spartan general Mindaros copied Xerxes by sacrificing to Athena Ilias. From about 410–399 BC, Ilion was controlled by local leaders in Lampsacus, who ruled on behalf of the Persian satrap Pharnabazus.
In 399 BC, the Spartan general Dercylidas drove out the Greek soldiers at Ilion who were managing the city for the Lampsacene leaders. This action reduced Persian control in the Troad. Ilion remained under Persian rule until the Peace of Antalcidas in 387–386 BC. During this time, a statue of Ariobarzanes, the satrap of Hellespontine Phrygia, was placed near the temple of Athena Ilias. In 360–359 BC, the city was briefly controlled by Charidemus of Oreus, a mercenary leader who sometimes worked for Athens. In 359 BC, he was driven out by the Athenian Menelaos, whom the people of Ilion honored with a grant of proxeny. This is the earliest known civic decree from Ilion. In May 334 BC, Alexander the Great crossed the Hellespont, visited the temple of Athena Ilias, sacrificed at the tombs of Homeric heroes, and made Ilion free and tax-exempt. After Alexander’s death in 323 BC, plans were found showing he intended to rebuild the temple of Athena Ilias on a grand scale.
Antigonus Monophthalmus took control of the Troad in 311 BC and created the new city of Antigoneia Troas, which combined several nearby cities. Around 311–306 BC, the koinon of Athena Ilias was formed from the remaining cities in the Troad and along the Asian coast of the Dardanelles. The koinon secured a promise from Antigonus that he would respect their independence, unlike the cities merged into Antigoneia. The koinon continued to function until at least the 1st century AD and included cities from the Troad, as well as Myrlea and Chalcedon for a time. The governing body of the koinon was the synedrion, where each city sent two representatives. A group of five agonothetai managed daily operations, with no city having more than one representative. This system ensured no single city could dominate the koinon. The main purpose of the koinon was to organize the annual Panathenaia festival at the sanctuary of Athena Ilias. The festival attracted many visitors and traders, and the koinon funded projects like a new theater around 306 BC and the expansion of the sanctuary and temple of Athena Ilias in the 3rd century.
From 302–281 BC, Ilion and the Troad were part of Lysimachus’s kingdom. During this time, Lysimachus helped Ilion unite nearby communities, growing the city’s population and land. Lysimachus was defeated at the Battle of Corupedium in 281 BC by Seleucus I Nikator, giving the Seleucid kingdom control of Asia
Troy in legend
The main story about Troy is found in the Iliad, an ancient poem that describes the last year of the Trojan War. In the Iliad, Troy is shown as the capital of a strong and wealthy kingdom. The city is described as a major power that could gather many allies to help defend it. Troy is built on a steep hill and protected by large stone walls, rectangular towers, and massive gates with wooden doors that can be locked. According to Dares Phrygius, there were six gates: the Antenorean, the Dardanian, the Ilian, the Scaean, the Thymbraean, and the Trojan. The city has wide, well-organized streets. At the top of the hill, there is the Temple of Athena and King Priam’s palace, a large building with many rooms surrounding an inner courtyard.
In the Iliad, the Greeks set up their camp near the mouth of the Scamander River, where they landed their ships. The city of Troy was located on a hill across the plain of Scamander, where much of the fighting happened.
The Iliad is not the only work about Troy. Homer’s other major work, the Odyssey, also mentions Troy. Other ancient Greek writings, such as Aeschylus’s Oresteia, refer to Troy as well. The Roman poet Virgil later expanded the Homeric story of Troy in his Aeneid. A later Greek epic by Quintus Smyrnaeus, called The Fall of Troy, describes the city’s destruction, including the Trojan Horse and the sacrifice of Polyxena, Priam’s youngest daughter.
Ancient Greeks and Romans believed the Trojan War was real and that the city described in Homer’s works was located in Anatolia, on a peninsula called the Troad (Biga Peninsula). For example, Alexander the Great visited the site in 334 BC and made sacrifices at tombs linked to the Homeric heroes Achilles and Patroclus.
Current status
The Turkish government established the Historical National Park at Troy on September 30, 1996. The park covers 136 square kilometers (53 square miles) and includes Troy and the surrounding area, with Troy at its center. Its goal is to protect historical sites, monuments, and the natural environment of the region. In 1998, the park was recognized as a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
Public access to the ancient site begins along a road near the museum in Tevfikiye village, leading to the eastern side of Hisarlık. A large wooden horse monument stands in the square there, featuring a ladder and internal chambers for visitors to use. A gate near the square allows entry to the site. Visitors pass through turnstiles, and admission is typically not free. Inside the site, dirt roads guide visitors to different areas, while railed boardwalks provide access to steeper parts. Many overlooks have signs in multiple languages that explain the features. Most of these are outdoors, but a permanent canopy covers the site of an early megaron and wall.
In 2018, the Troy Museum (Turkish: Troya Müzesi) opened in Tevfikiye village, 800 meters (870 yards) east of the excavation site. The building’s design was chosen in a contest won by Yalin Mimarlik in 2011. The cube-shaped museum has large underground spaces and holds over 40,000 portable artifacts, with 2,000 displayed. Artifacts were moved from other museums in the area. The collection includes items from the entire prehistoric Troad region.