To get to this rather remote site, take a bus or car to Çanakkale from Istanbul via TekirDag and the Dardanelles ferry (380km/235mi) or via Bursa, Bandirma (580km/360mi); from Çanakkale by minibus or long-distance bus to Edremit/Izmir, alight at the fork to Troy and take a taxi (5km/3mi).
Troy I to Troy IX
Troy I 10 levels (3000-2500 B.C.)
Excavations have shown that there was a fortified settlement of large, long houses on the rocky hill of Hisarlik some 5000 years ago.
Troy II 7 levels (2500-2400 B.C.)
About the middle of the third millennium the Troy I settlement was extended towards the southwest. An area of 8000sq.m/9500sq.yd was surrounded by a fortified wall which was rebuilt three times. To the southwest stood a huge entrance of stone blocks. In the center of the circuit of walls stood the palace of the ruler. In the upper section of Troy II (i.e. the "Burnt Town") Schliemann found what he called the Treasure of Priam (gold and silver vessels, gold jewelry etc.). This treasure has been dated to around 2400 B.C. and is linked with the fire. Schliemann was convinced until shortly before his death that this was Homer's Troy.
Troy III-V 13 levels (2400-1800 B.C.)
The fire mentioned above which destroyed Troy II left a 2m/6.5ft thick layer of rubble and ashes. Later settlers dwelt in primitive huts, living from hunting and little is known about them. Some vessels with depictions of human faces and thin goblets with opposing handles have come to light. The last layer here indicates that this settlement was also destroyed by fire.
Troy VI 8 levels "Homer's Troy" (1800-1250 B.C.)
It is the new town's huge walls of large smooth-faced irregular blocks which form the most impressive of Troy's remains. In the years between the 15th and 13th century B.C., the town enjoyed its greatest period of prosperity. The area (200x300m/220x330yds) was surrounded by a wall once 10m/33ft high. Inside the walls the foundations of a number of palaces have been preserved. No trace has yet been found of a lower town in the plain below.
The cemetery which contains the funerary urns with the ashes of the dead is situated some 500m/550yds to the south.
Troy VII a (ca. 1250-1180 B.C.)
The town seems to have been rebuilt soon after an earthquake. The inhabitants' way of life remained unchanged. A century later the town was destroyed again.
Troy VIIb (ca. 1180-1000 B.C.)
After the destruction of Troy VIIa the site was occupied by settlers from the Balkans. It is thought that the last people to settle here during this period were the Dardanians who gave their name to the Dardanelles.
Troy VIII (eighth c.-85 B.C.) After an interruption the site became a Greek colony. Ca. 730 B.C. Homer described the events of the Trojan War which is dated at sometime in the 13th century B.C.. Since then Troy has been regarded as a "sacred site".
In 652 B.C. the Cimmerians after defeating King Gyges of Lydia, moved into Troad but without displacing the Greeks. In 547 B.C. King Cyrus of Persia incorporated Troy into the Persian satrapy of Phrygia.
In 334 B.C. Alexander the Great crossed the Dardanelles and took Troy where he offered a sacrifice to Athene Ilios. About 300 B.C. Lysimachos built a harbor for the town at the mouth of the Scamander and replaced the old Temple of Athena by a splendid new one in marble. At least by the time of this construction work, the main buildings from the periods of Troy VII and Troy VI on the surface of the hill had been leveled. Between A.D. 278 and 270 the town was held by the Galatians, a Celtic people.
Troy IX (85 B.C. to A.D. 500)
Whereas the importance of Troy had hitherto depended on its Temple of Athena, which was ranked equal in status to the Temple of Artemis, it now enjoyed Roman favor as the city of Aeneas - Rome seeing itself as the political heir to Troy.
There was now a period of great building activity.
Until the incursion of the Goths about A.D. 262 Troy flourished and this prosperity continued into Early Byzantine times. Constantine the Great even contemplated making Troy his capital. With the recognition of Christianity as the State religion, however, the old temples fell into ruin and Troy's glory rapidly faded. In the Middle Ages Troy still had a fortress and until the 13th century it was the see of a bishop, but after its conquest by the Ottomans in 1306 the town rapidly decayed. The ruins were used by the Turks as a source of building stone for their homes and tomb stelae. Grass grew over the site and Troy fell into oblivion.
After an interval of 50 years, research in and around Troy was re-started under the direction of Professor Manfred Korfmann from the Institute of Prehistory at the University of Tübingen. The findings are published in the journal "Studia Troica". The official guide to the excavations is available at the site and in Istanbul's Archeological Museum.