Troy

Troy is an ancient city on the northwest coast of Anatolia, at the site known as Hisarlık near the modern town of Çanakkale, Turkey. It sits at the entrance to the Dardanelles (Hellespont) and comprises layers of settlement dating from the early Bronze Age to the Roman period. In Greco-Roman and later literary tradition, Troy is best known as the setting of the Trojan War, a saga that culminates in the fall of the city and the Greeks’ sack of Troy. The historicity of the war is debated, but the legend has profoundly influenced Western literature and art.

Archaeology shows a sequence of at least nine cities built on the same mound. The most significant Bronze Age phases are Troy VI and Troy VII, characterized by massive defensive walls and evidence of violent destruction around the end of the Bronze Age. The site also yields ties to the Hittite empire through the record of Wilusa in cuneiform texts, suggesting long-distance connections in the Late Bronze Age. Systematic excavations beginning in the 1870s by Heinrich Schliemann, followed by Wilhelm Dörpfeld and Carl Blegen, established a stratified chronology and sparked interest in ancient Troy. In 1998, the Archaeological Site of Troy was designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Beyond archaeology, Troy's legacy endures in literature, art, and film, with the Wooden Horse episode remaining a lasting symbol of deception and cunning. While many details of the war are legendary, modern scholarship generally treats Troy as a real Bronze Age settlement whose later mythologized story grew through centuries of storytelling. The name Troy also denotes several places in the United States, including Troy, New York.