From the Edge in Turkey: Part IV of IV: Troy, Gallipoli and Homeward Bound

Troy (Troia)

Yes, this is highly likely the Troy of Homer's, The Illiad and Odyssey. It's modern name is Troia, which you see on tee-shirts and souvenier cups. Troy lies on the northwestern shore of Turkey, by the Dardanelles, Sea of Marmara, and Edremit Bay. Thanks to Heinrich Schliemann, a German businessman who considered himself an amateur archeologist (laughed at by many), this site was identified in 1868 as probably the one from Homer's poem. You remember - Helen of Troy, Paris, Achilles, Brad Pitt?

When we arrived on June 18th, we were lucky enough to meet up with the well known tour guide for Troy: Mustafa Askin. He wrote a book on Troy that our Pasha tour guide had recommended called, Troy, with legends, facts and new developments. Mustafa Askin grew up around Troy and studied it extensively. The day we arrived, we just happened to meet him as he was eating lunch at his family's restaurant. We had decided to eat lunch there, too, before trying to find a guide, any guide (there are several around). What luck! To top it off, due to some journalists cancelling their tour at the last minute he said, he had time to give the two of us an hour-long tour! (for a reasonable fee, of course). Timing is everything.

Troy, by Mustafa Askin. ISBN 975-7559-37-7

Originally written in English

Carpet is the one we bought in Bergama.

Having a tour given by this man was a true gift because when you look around the ruins of Troy, all you see is a big mess.

There are 9 layers of cities built on that spot over eons of time and excavations are complicated. Hoyt's previous visit to Troy about 15 years ago had been disappointing without a guide to explain what the heck he was looking at. So this time around we got the full works. From time to time Hoyt teaches The Illiad and the Odyssey at Rollins College, so this was of high importance to his research. For me, well, I just got to have fun! And tried to learn something, too.

This way to Troy! Oh, if Homer could have seen this!

[Photo property of Hoyt L. Edge]

The name of the local town near the ruins of Troy is named Hisarlik. That's where Mustafa's restaurant is located. You have to drive about 10 minutes from there to the ruins.

A good tour starts with a belly full of good eats! We tried the lamb specialty and it was great.

[Photo property of Hoyt L. Edge]

How well do you know Homer's Illiad and Odyessy?

Mens room sign in Hisarlik Restaurant, owned by Mustafa's family. Troy, Turkey

[Photo property of Hoyt L. Edge]

What Troy might have looked like during Homer's time.

[Photo property of Hoyt L. Edge]

Hoyt L. Edge and Charlene L. Edge at Troy, Turkey. The wooden horse is a silly representation of the Trojan horse

used to transport soldiers into Troy and surprise and conqueor city inhabitants.

[Photo property of Hoyt L. Edge]

Amphoras (jars) from Troy, Turkey used to store olive oil and/or grains.

The jars with pointed bottoms made the jars stable during transport on board ships. How?

According to Mustafa, the ship's floor would be filled with sand and the jar sunk into the sand,

providing stability for oil or wine contents, preventing them from sloshing out.

Ancient names for Troy mentioned in the Illiad, taken from kings Tros and Ilos.

Troy, Turkey

[Photo property of Hoyt L. Edge]

Drawing depicting different levels of cities built at site of Troy, Turkey

[Photo property of Hoyt L. Edge]

Mustafa Askin, Professional Guide, demonstrating the strategically narrow entrance into Troy.

Invaders would be ambushed by citizens hiding around the bend in the road.

[Photo property of Hoyt L. Edge]

Trojan walls of Troy, Turkey

[Photo property of Hoyt L. Edge]

Mustafa Askin (Guide) and Charlene L. Edge looking at Troy palace wall ruins.

The red clay bricks had once been burned in a fire which ended up hardening them and

preserving them better than they normally would have been.

Troy, Turkey

[Photo property of Hoyt L. Edge]

Troy, Turkey overlooking plains to Dardenelles

[Photo property of Hoyt L. Edge]

Drawing of reconstructed palace and walls, Troy, Turkey

[Photo property of Hoyt L. Edge]

Priam's palace walls. Troy, Turkey

[Photo property of Hoyt L. Edge]

Walls of Troy showing notched rocks to accommodate earthquake shocks.

Interstingly, we saw the same sort of engineering in Peru done by the Incans many centuries later.

[Photo property of Hoyt L. Edge]

Troy's walled fortifications.
Troy, Turkey
[Photo property of Hoyt L. Edge]

Little bird visiting Troy, Turkey

[Photo property of Hoyt L. Edge]

Hoyt L. Edge and Mustafa Askin at Troy, Turkey. June 18, 2011

[Photo property of Hoyt L. Edge]

What a great time. Although it was hot, it was comfortable enough and we kept drinking water, as usual. Shade helped. Mustafa said it is impossible to tour in August because of the unbearable heat, so May and June are prime times!

Gallipoli - then homeward bound

We left Troy around 3 pm and drove on to the Gallipoli peninsula. To get there from Troy, we drove north and took a ferry boat from Canakkale (mainland province) over to the Gallipoli peninusula across the Dardanelles Strait.

Because of Hoyt's work in Australian Studies at Rollins College, this site had deep meaning for him. In 1981, Australian film maker, Peter Wier, made a movie, Gallipoli, depicting the heartwrenching events at Gallipoli near the end of WWI. Before we left for Turkey Hoyt made sure I got to see it and it certainly helped me understand the significance of what I would experience on the trip.

The story features young Australian volunteers losing their innocence in the war fighting the Ottoman Empire's soldiers. Although they lost many men (and the Allies lost the battle there), the Australian's valiant efforts helped raise the status of Australia to a major national force in the world. On the Ottoman Empire's side, it was here that Attaturk made his mark as a leader and eventually organized the revolution that overthrew the rule of the Ottoman Empire, creating today's Turkey.

Gallipoli today is an historic park and place of pilgrimage. It is a sad but lovely place filled with pine trees, old war trenches, canons, and monuments in honor of soldiers on both sides of the war. The Turkish government has provided graveyards for the Australians and New Zealanders, as well as for the lost Turks.

Gallipoli, "is the backbone of the 'Anzac legend' in which an Allied campaign in 1915 to knock Turkey out of the war and open a relief route to Russia turned into one of the greatest fiascos of WWI. By the end of the campaign, 130,000 men were dead, a third from Allied forces and the rest Turkish." (Lonely Planet). I understand that during ceasefires, some Allied soldiers became acquainted with their "enemies."

Hoyt L. Edge at ferry boat dock in Canakkale, Turkey

[Photo property of Hoyt L. Edge]

Ferry boat from Canakkale across the Dardanelles Strait (a.k.a. Strait of Canakkale) to the Gallipoli Peninsula.

[Photo property of Hoyt L. Edge]

We checked into a nice room at Gollipoli Houses before driving to the park.

This guesthouse is situated at the edge of the park. The owner, a Belgian,

was kind enough to offer suggestions for touring the park

and loaned us a guidebook on what we would see there.

[Photo property of Hoyt L. Edge]

Road to Gallipoli National Park.
Notice the sign in the middle, "Anzak Koyu." That's the infamous beach.

[Photo property of Hoyt L. Edge]

Statue of Turkish soldier carrying a wounded Australian

[Photo property of Hoyt L. Edge]

Left from the battles.

[Photo property of Hoyt L. Edge]

Reconstruction of trenches

[Photo property of Hoyt L. Edge]

Lone Pine cemetary where Australians and New Zealander soldiers

are buried. The youngest was 14 yrs. old.

Grave markers have sayings on them like, "Their glory shall not be blotted out."

Gallipoli, Turkey

[Photo property of Hoyt L. Edge]

Hoyt L. Edge at Lone Pine Cemetary monument, Gallipoli, Turkey

[Photo property of Hoyt L. Edge]

Turkish cemetary. Gallipoli, Turkey

[Photo property of Hoyt L. Edge]

Turkish monument to fallen soldiers. Gallipoli, Turkey

[Photo property of Hoyt L. Edge]

Anzac Cove sign. Gallipoli, Turkey

[Photo property of Hoyt L. Edge]

Anzac Cove. The Anzac attack on August 6 and 7, 1915,

included the New Zealand Mounted Rifle Brigade and a Maori contingent.

[Photo property of Hoyt L. Edge]

It was hard for me to imagine so much blooshed and violent warfare in such a lovely place that today marks Anzac Cove. May that place never see such destruction again.

Homeward Bound

On June 19th we left Turkey enriched by the experience that we'll reflect on the rest of our lives. Thanks to all our guides, drivers, fellow travelers, pension managers, innkeepers, hotel clerks, restaurant cooks and servers, shop keepers who helped us spend our money, and our dear little Fiat that as falling-apart as you were, still got us around Turkey safely - and of course, a special thanks to my amazing husband-tour-guide-driver-extraordinaire.