Thirty-Eighth Post From Türkiye: Çanakkale, Troy & Bergama

We had a long weekend earlier this year and decided to tour a few sights in the western part of Turkey. We started our trip in Çanakkale.

Çanakkale (literally "pot fortress") is a city and seaport, and is the nearest major town to the site of ancient Troy (Truva). We had been through here before as it is a ferry boat port, and we caught a ferry over to the European side of Turkey to see Gallipoli.

The "wooden horse" from the 2004 movie Troy.

Trum and I took a bunch of pictures of this cat. We thought it was so cute that he was patiently watching the fishermen selling their catch, waiting for a hand-out. I am pretty sure he got something, as cats are beloved in this country.

People fishing off some rocks. 

Clock Tower

Dardanelles Straits Naval Command Museum, We didn't go in, but wandered the park to see various weaponry and relics from the battle.

Sailor guarding the gate.

These giant anchors held the WWI Bosphorus anti-submarine net in place.

Çimenlik Kalesi was built by order of Mehmet the Conqueror in 1452

Çanakkale is a university town as well, and in this older neighborhood we found lots of cool old buildings and book shops. While Jack searched out books I headed in to this little courtyard. It had a little restaurant and a fabulous little pottery shop. You could see them through the windows making stuff in the back. We all got something to take home that made us happy.

When you're near the sea in Turkey you will often see guys with little trays selling mussels. Now I don't eat food from the sea, but I might be cautious with these if I was so inclined. I am pretty sure there's no health code being adhered to in this business.

The next morning we headed out to tour the archaeological site of Troy. It was the setting of the Trojan War described in the Greek Epic Cycle--especially in the Iliad, one of the two epic poems attributed to Homer. 

First Stop: Photo Ops with the Trojan Horse.

Often times in Turkey you will have random animals wandering sites. This was our favorite feline friend so far. He was a big ole tom cat and he had a super loud purr.

In Troy, nine cities have been discovered built one on top of the other, with the oldest dating back to 3500 B.C. Here Jack and Truman touch some of the wall from the first city, while the cat begs to be petted.

You might wonder why a city was repeatedly built on this plain. In the far distance you can see the sea. It used to reach all the way to this hill, but has since silted up. Cool, right?

I love to see the intricate detail on the artifacts left from the Romans.

Our friend Cat, still hanging out.

In the 1870’s, gentleman archaeologist Heinrich Schliemann, came in and investigated the site by digging this giant trench through the middle to uncover all the layers of cities. He kind of made a mess, and it is still a little confusing to know what era you are looking at.

Roman Street.

Next we drove down the coast to Behramkale, It and its nearby sister city Assos were an ancient settlement founded in the 8th century BC. Aristotle lived here for a few years, and St, Paul visited  during his third missionary journey, meeting up with St. Luke before sailing to the nearby Greek island of Lesvos. 

Houses in the village built right into the rocks.

Ottoman Cistern from a later era.

We were the only tourists there that day, but chickens and kitties kept us company.

                                                         The Temple of Athena

That darn cat climbed all over Trum.

View of ancient and more recent settlements.

Beautiful Turkish coast.

Bergama is the modern town that surrounds the ancient city of Pergamon, one of the seven churches of Asia discussed in the Book of Revelation.

Our hotel was in the older section of town on a hill. We had to drive down some crazy narrow streets, dodging pedestrians, cars and tractors. Pretty typical in a Turkish town. 

Our hotel was an old Ottoman house. With awesome wooden floors and ceilings.

View from our window with my reflection.

Some of the old buildings in the neighborhood are yet to be restored. A bit on the dangerous side.

The acropolis is one of the most impressive in the Mediterranean. It was the home of the great Altar to Zeus (now in a museum in Berlin), which was probably why Revelation referred to the city being the place "where Satan's seat is" (Revelation 2:12-13). There were a few snowflakes falling that morning, so we rushed up the mountain to see it. By the time we got up there, a crazily chilly wind was whipping around the mountain top.

Trum With Anti-Freezing Wind Hood On.

Remains of the Library

Temple of Trajan

Terraces overlooking the valley.

10,000-seat Theater

I can not convey how truly steep the drop off the side of this hill was. It was crazy and scary. That theater was so steep. I can't imagine living here, let alone building all of these buildings during Roman times. It is really impressive.

Temple of Dionysus

By this time it was getting really cold on that hill so we headed down. But mere cold doesn't stop JACK"S ARMY! So we were off to a new site.

Back in town we went to the Red Basilica, originally a temple to the Egyptian gods Serapis, Isis, and Harpocrates (built 2nd century AD). Later on, Christians built a basilica inside the massive building.

Serapis? Isis? One of them gods...Some of the statues were rebuilt to give visitors a sense of what it used to be like.

Next to the basilica, we had to stop for some obligatory kilim shopping. This part of Turkey is home to the Yörüks, or Turkmens of Anatolia, some of whom are still nomadic. Their carpets and kilims are famous for using bright colors (especially greens), and hexagon and diamond patterns. We actually bought two of these kilims (can you guess which ones?). The shop owner attended UW-Madison, so he and Jack had a good time talking over their school days in Wisconsin. 

Though it was really starting to snow by this point, we still had to see the Asclepion--an important medical center/shrine to the god of healing (Asclepius). It was here that the famous Roman physician Galen was born and practiced. His work was the basis of Western medicine into the 16th century.

Snow flying in vertically at this point!

Roman Bazaar Street

Theater (Sick People Need Entertainment Too!) Filled with water from the storm and melting snow.

Faking that I am enjoying this.

Jack and a Guardian Dog

As the weather was similar here in Roman times they had covered tunnel walk ways. Here are the remains of two, one was still covered.

Underground Passageway from the Sacred Well. The Roman system to drain water was still working to keep the tunnel dry.

Temple of Telesphorus (son of Asclepius). Patients used to sleep here in hopes the god would send their diagnosis via dream.

By the time we finished the Asclepion the snow was falling pretty thickly and I literally had wind burn on my cheeks. We als needed to get back to Ankara (7 1/2-8-hour drive), so we high-tailed it out of town. First, we had to stop at a gas station for some Turkish junk food (including "Pop Keks") and I had to take a picture of a a guy selling chickens, because, why not?

You could spend every weekend for years exploring all the ancient sites of Turkey. There is hardly a pile of rocks in this country, that didn't play host to some important figure or event that shaped the history of the Western world. It's a fun way to spend a weekend.