Troy – The World Heritage Site That Almost Wasn’t

Troy – A dusty archaeological site with a fantastic story!

Located on a strip of land with strategic advantages for controlling the Dardanelles Straits in northeastern Turkey, Troy is one of the most famous archaeological sites of all time.  Why is it famous you might ask? Because of the war between the Greeks and the Spartans to release the beauty Helen from her captives.  One person, Heinrich Schliemann, was obsessed with the story, possessed with finding Troy, and he and the city are forever intertwined with hope, romance, gold, scandal, and triumph.

In the mid to late 1800s, Heinrich Schliemann became world famous for sticking to his beliefs, using grit and determination (and maybe some untruths) to uncover and prove that this little site not far from the modern day town of Hisarlik, was truly the city first mentioned in Homer’s Iliad.

Famous or infamous, Schliemann is the key to Troy.  Rising from a less than stellar childhood where his family fell out of favor in their town, he became an apprentice to a grocer and at the same time continued to increase his knowledge of languages and Greek history. Still unfulfilled, he went to California to cash in on his brother’s gold rush findings which were already gone when he arrived. Eventually Schliemann took charge of his life and became a ruthless and successful merchant, and a millionaire, around the age of 40.

At this point, he decided to live out his supposed lifelong dream of finding Homer’s Troy and excavating it.  Whether it was pure determination and strength of will or his willingness to falsify and exaggerate his findings, Schliemann was successful at attracting supporters, and money, for his project.

He decided on this site thanks to information he’d gained from Franks Calvert, but he really didn’t give him much credit after that.  He also decided that since there were so many layers on top of the “real” Troy, he would quickly dig down to the correct layer.  At this point there weren’t many laws and regulations on how to dig correctly or even ethically, but Schliemann still had people up in arms because what he did bordered on reckless.  Through seven of the nine layers he plowed.  His only concern was to find proof that this was Homer’s Troy.  He just didn’t care about the other 3,000 years or so of history that was piled on top.  He even dug a road through the entire archaeological site.  His damaging ways still proved him right when he found a special horde of gold and jewels.

At this point, he had already had trouble keeping friends and now he spied this copper vase filled with treasure.  What does he do?  He sends the workers away and he brings it all to his quarters.  A Turkish overseer was sure he was up to no good, but Schliemann just ignored him, threw him out of his house and then proceeded to smuggle this loot out of Turkey completely.

The Turks were not impressed and refused to let him back to the site until he paid a fine.  At first he denied their accusation, but with the lure of more treasure to find, he capitulated and even paid more than they were asking.  From that moment on, though, they watched him extremely carefully.

Schliemann was heralded as a hero, a destructive one-sided hero, but he was a hero all the same.  With his tenacity, lack of scruples, and determination, he proved that the little archaeological site next to Hisarlik was indeed the famous city of Homer, Troy.

So today, Troy has made it on the UNESCO World Heritage List, one of the first to be inscribed in the country of Turkey, and it deserves that honor.  Other sites  such as Pamukkale, Istanbul, and Cappadocia bring in the crowds of tourists.  Troy just doesn’t have the glitz and glamour as the other sites; it has a story.  A damn good story, but only a story.  When you are walking along the path, past the model Trojan Horse, through the on-site exhibit, and out on the dusty, hot trail looking at rocks, you must remember the story.

It doesn’t take long to visit the site, and if you are smarter than me, you will not go in the middle of a Turkish summer.  You can see where Schliemann cut his infamous road right through the middle of the site.  You can see foundations, carvings, and foundations.  You must imagine Helen held captive by Paris and the sentries parading the walls, brandishing their bows and arrows.  You can almost hear a slight cough or murmur as you pass by the huge horse.  In your mind, you can see the fighting, the famine, the siege.

If you plan on going to Troy, read up on Schliemann and his excavations.  He is a fascinating man, the man who brought us the city of Troy.  If it weren’t for him, Homer’s Troy may never have been discovered, and the fact that it survived his excavations is pretty impressive as well!

Have you been to Troy?  Had you heard about Schliemann?  What did you think?

For further reading, you can check our resources:

Archaeology: Troy and Heinrich Schliemann, Heinrich Schliemann and the Discovery of Troy, The Treasure of Troy, and Who Discovered Troy?