Troy

Previously considered as a legendary city, the presence of Troy was proved to be a reality after its discovery by Heinrich Schliemann in 1870. Today, we know that there were at least nine cities built one on each other in the same territory and the first city had been founded in the third millennium BC.

During the Bronze Age, Troy seems to have been a flourishing mercantile city, since its location allowed for complete control of the Dardanelles, through which every merchant ship from the Aegean? heading for the Black Sea had to pass.

The seventh city , which was founded on the 13th century BC seems to have ended by a war and there are obvious traces of a big city fire. Therefore, this city is supposed to be the one depicted in the legend of Trojan War. The last city was founded by Romans during the reign of the emperor Augustus and it seems to have been a very important city till the establishment of Constantinople in the fourth century as the eastern capital of the Roman Empire. Afterwards the vitality of the city declined gradually and it disappeared. Today there is a Turkish city called Çanakkale in the close vicinity of Troy.

See also: Lost cities