AN ITCH TO BLOG: Turkiye: Day 3

CANNAKALE - KUSADASI
1. Spent first half of the day in Troia (aka Troy)

First of all, I never knew Troy was in Turkey. It was a half an hour trip from our hotel in Cannakale.

The legend of the Trojan War was apparently not really a fight between mortals but a fight amongst the God.

It started with a beauty pageant between Hera, Athena and Aphrodite. The Trojan prince Paris was asked to judge which of the three Olympian goddesses was the most beautiful. Hera and Athena had tried to bribe him with power and victory in battle. Aphrodite offered the love of the most beautiful woman in the world - Helen of Sparta. Paris chose Aphrodite.
Kingdoms allied to Greece had taken an oath to protect the marriage of Menelaus and Helen and when she was abducted, war started btwn Greece and its allies against Troy with Hera and Athena siding the Greeks and Aphrodite siding the Trojans. The war went on for 10 years.
It was upon the 10th year that the Greeks faked retreat and tricked the Trojans with the infamous Trojan Horse which could fit 40 of its strongest warriors. The Trojans broke their walls down to bring the huge horse in thinking that it could please Athena, the goddess of war.
At nightfall, the hidden warriors attacked the city from the inside and that was the downfall of Troy.

Whether the mythical war took place is debatable as the earliest record of it was by Homer (also from Turkey and not Greece!) some 400 years after the war supposedly took place. But the city did exist and it could have been destroyed by earthquakes.

The tiny horse...

...NOT! This horse was built in the 19th century and acts as a symbol for the place.

Against the remaining walls of Troy

Was once part of Athena's temple

The wells where they used to sacrifice animals

2. Visited Acropolis after lunch.
Clearly not the Acropolis of Athens. There are many acropolis in the world. Acropolis means "up town" or "highest city". As you can imagine, the view was amazing!