Today was Troy day. The site where the ancient city of Troy used to stand is now a UNESCO World Heritage site. There is not that much to see, as archelogoists have only excavated 20% of the entire city! We must admit to not even knowing Troy existed let alone was in Turkey before our trip.
We did see some pretty incredible things, like the mound that the site is based around is only a mound as there have been 9 different cities built underneath it, and the fact that Troy used to be a coastal city and now the sediment has meant that the coastline is now 5kms away.
We did see some pretty incredible things, like the mound that the site is based around is only a mound as there have been 9 different cities built underneath it, and the fact that Troy used to be a coastal city and now the sediment has meant that the coastline is now 5kms away.
We also learned how the main discoverer of the site, Heinrich Schliemann destroyed a lot of the structures when he initially started excavating, not realizing what he was doing as he wasnt an archeologist just fan obsessed with finding the city. There was also a token Trojan Horse structure which Hamish really liked…
Back on the bus and on the road to Pergamon. This was on top of a massive hill and required us to get a wee cable car up to the top. At the top were the usual tourist shops set up, but these shop owners were really funny. Once they found out that we were mostly Kiwis and Aussies, they changed their tack and promised us that the quality of their products was "better than the Warehouse and K mart".
Pergamon became the capital of the Kingdom of Pergamon during the Hellenistic period, under the Attalid dynasty, 281–133 BC. It is famous for the Hellenistic Theater with a seating capacity of 10,000, with the steepest seating of any known theater in the ancient world.
Pergamon's library on the Acropolis is one of the best in the ancient Greek civilization.When the Ptolemies stopped exporting papyrus, partly because of competitors and partly because of shortages, the Pergamenes invented a new substance to use in codices, called parchment. This was made of fine calfskin, a predecessor of vellum. The library at Pergamom was believed to contain 200,000 volumes, which Mark Antony later gave to Cleopatra as a wedding present, (not that he asked permission he just stole it).
Three kilometers south of the Acropolis, down in the valley, there was the Sanctuary of Asclepius (also known as the the god of healing). In this place people with health problems could bathe in the water of the sacred spring, and in the patients' dreams Asclepius would appear in a vision to tell them how to cure their illness. Archeology has found lots of gifts and dedications that people would make afterwards, such as small terracotta body parts, no doubt representing what had been healed.
Pergamon became the capital of the Kingdom of Pergamon during the Hellenistic period, under the Attalid dynasty, 281–133 BC. It is famous for the Hellenistic Theater with a seating capacity of 10,000, with the steepest seating of any known theater in the ancient world.
Pergamon's library on the Acropolis is one of the best in the ancient Greek civilization.When the Ptolemies stopped exporting papyrus, partly because of competitors and partly because of shortages, the Pergamenes invented a new substance to use in codices, called parchment. This was made of fine calfskin, a predecessor of vellum. The library at Pergamom was believed to contain 200,000 volumes, which Mark Antony later gave to Cleopatra as a wedding present, (not that he asked permission he just stole it).
Three kilometers south of the Acropolis, down in the valley, there was the Sanctuary of Asclepius (also known as the the god of healing). In this place people with health problems could bathe in the water of the sacred spring, and in the patients' dreams Asclepius would appear in a vision to tell them how to cure their illness. Archeology has found lots of gifts and dedications that people would make afterwards, such as small terracotta body parts, no doubt representing what had been healed.
We were roasting by the end of the day, so nice to be in the heat!
We had another long drive down the coast to where we were staying that night, in Kusadasi which is famous for being a cruise ship town. The sunset we were greeted with was simply stunning, and the hotel we were staying at was really nice as well.So we decided to pop to the supermarket and buy some local brew and sit on our balcony and watch the sun go down.
We had another long drive down the coast to where we were staying that night, in Kusadasi which is famous for being a cruise ship town. The sunset we were greeted with was simply stunning, and the hotel we were staying at was really nice as well.So we decided to pop to the supermarket and buy some local brew and sit on our balcony and watch the sun go down.
Highlight: Seeing these amazing pure white marble structures on a clear sunny day, quite spectacular. And the sunset in Kusadasi was pretty much up there as top 10 sunsets of all time.
Lowlight: The drives were starting to become a little tedious….
Interesting Fact: Schliemann discovered a bunch of gold jewellery which he named "Priam's Treasure". This publicity backfired when the Turkish government revoked Schliemann's permission to dig and sued him for a share of the gold. Collaborating with Calvert, Schliemann smuggled the treasure out of Turkey. He defended his "smuggling" in Turkey as an attempt to protect the items from corrupt local officials. Priam's Treasure today remains a subject of international dispute.
Lowlight: The drives were starting to become a little tedious….
Interesting Fact: Schliemann discovered a bunch of gold jewellery which he named "Priam's Treasure". This publicity backfired when the Turkish government revoked Schliemann's permission to dig and sued him for a share of the gold. Collaborating with Calvert, Schliemann smuggled the treasure out of Turkey. He defended his "smuggling" in Turkey as an attempt to protect the items from corrupt local officials. Priam's Treasure today remains a subject of international dispute.
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