Troy

The ruins of ancient Troy occupy a hill above the Scamander plain, a landscape that has drawn visitors for centuries in search of the city Homer brought to life in the Iliad. The site is layered — nine distinct settlements stacked one above another, spanning roughly three millennia of continuous habitation. Walking the excavation paths means moving through those layers, past the remains of city walls, tower foundations, and the outlines of what was once a fortified citadel.

What survives at the site

The most visible structures belong to Roman Troy, built after the earlier Greek city had been damaged and later rebuilt under Roman rule. Visitors see the foundations of a colonnaded street, fragments of a baths complex, and the remains of a small odeon. The ancient walls, substantially rebuilt in places, trace the perimeter of the citadel. Excavation trenches cut deep into the hillside expose the stratigraphy — bands of stone and rubble that mark different periods of construction, destruction and rebuilding. Schliemann's famous trench, dug through the centre of the site in the 1870s, is still visible and still divides the archaeological landscape.

The landscape and the sea

From the upper terraces the view opens over the Troad, the coastal plain that drops gently toward the Dardanelles. On a clear day the strait is visible to the north and the Aegean beyond. This is the terrain that frames the stories of the Trojan War — the plain where, according to tradition, battles were fought and armies camped. The air carries salt from the sea and the dry scent of the hillside scrub. There are no restaurants or cafes within the archaeological area itself, though the nearby town has simple options for lunch after a morning visit.

The wooden horse and the museum

A large wooden horse stands near the site entrance — a reference to the legendary stratagem rather than an ancient object, but one that most visitors find worth climbing inside. The archaeological museum near the site entrance holds objects found during the excavations: terracotta figurines, a bronze serpent from the Serpent Column, fragments of painted pottery and everyday items that give a sense of domestic life in the city. Troy remains an active research site, and the story of the excavations continues to be written as work progresses.