Sausages, some bread, and a tall glass of orange juice from the hotel breakfast buffet brought
me out of my morning daze. My tales in Turkey continued as we drove towards Cannakale to visit the
Troia archaeological site, which allows visitors to explore the remains of what was once the city of Troy.
Troy is a legendary city shrouded with legends and stories, but the most famous is probably the
one concerning the Trojan horse. This story takes place during the Trojan War, a war fought between
the city of Troy and the Achaeans (Greeks) because the city of Troy kidnapped the Spartan king’s wife.
The tale starts at the unsuccessful end of a 30 day siege against the city of Troy; however, the Greeks
didn’t give up. Instead they devised a clever plan to gain entry into the city. They constructed a wooden
horse, and inside was a select group of 20 soldiers. As the Greeks pretended to surrender and sail away,
the city of Troy claimed the wooden horse as a victory trophy. During the dead of night the soldiers
climbed out of the horse and opened the city’s gates, allowing the Greek soldiers who sailed back to
gain entry into the city.
Since we had come all the way to this mystical place we would surely be able to see the
wooden horse, right? Unfortunately, there’s actually no physical evidence of the Trojan horse other than
some pictures found on ancient artifacts. There was however, a wooden replica of the horse, which we
could even climb into. Keeping up with the legend, we took photos of ourselves pretending to jump out
of the horse, ready to invade the city. This led to some very comical situations, especially with the
more “grown-up” (older) members of our group. As we toured through the site, numbered into
subdivisions, we and our cameras were treated to picture perfect views of the surrounding towns. Our
stroll was as peaceful as a walk in the park, but the views of the remains of Troy and the surrounding
scenery was magical. Even the most avid photographers in our group had to put down their cameras and
just take in the scenery and the area.
This peacefulness was disturbed by the rumbling of stomachs as the hour reached lunchtime.
We again enjoyed a buffet, laden with Turkish food, before we came to our next destination, Acropolis
of Pergamum. Pergamum was an ancient Greek city now located in modern-day Turkey. We toured
Upper Acropolis and saw the Temple of Trajan, the Altar of Zeus, the Hellenistic Theater, and the Library
of Pergamum.
The Temple of Trajan was constructed during the reign of Trajan, who reigned as Roman
Emperor from 98 to 117. Unfortunately, it had been destroyed in an earthquake, but has been
reconstructed by pieces excavated from the ruins. Its tall columns made of white marble towered above
us as we took pictures overlooking the mountain view. The actual Altar of Zeus is displayed in the
Pergamum Museum in Berlin, but the base of the altar is still located in the original ruins. Besides the
beautiful view of the mountains, the towns, and the ruins, one of the most beautiful additions to the
area was the numerous amounts of blooming flowers growing amongst the ruins. The blooming flowers
made for a very beautiful walk as we went to the Hellenistic Theater. The Hellenistic has a seating
capacity of 10,000, and has the steepest seating of any theater known in the world. This was especially
daunting for those brave enough to walk and sit in the actual seats. Since one person’s suggestion for a
jumping photo shoot like the one we did in Troy was met with immediate rejections, we were able to
get a beautiful group shot on the seats. The Library of Pergamum is considered to be one of the most
important libraries of the ancient world. It was even said to hold as much as 200,000 volumes. Though
we couldn’t check any of them out today, it was amazing to see the remains of such a massively
important structure that once held all of that knowledge. Our days at the ruins were amazing, but by the
end of the day we were exhausted. This was perfect to go to our next destination, the healing center.
Unfortunately, by the time we arrived, the healing center was already in ruins. The healing
center, or the Sanatorium of the Aclepium, was actually founded in 4th century B.C. to heal patients. It
offered therapies, medicinal treatments, exercise, relaxation, dream interpretation and entertainment
for patients. With features such as a bath, a theater, and a sacred spring believed to hold healing powers
it sounds like a step up to today’s modern spas. The sanatorium was so successful that none of its
patients ever died, or so they say. One column depicting two snakes symbolized that the area was a
healing center in ancient times, which reminds you of the modern day symbol for medicine (though it
only has one snake). There was a dark, ancient passageway we walked through that patients from
ancient times once walked through too. As patients walked through, they believed to have heard the
gods whispering motivational phrases to them to get better. This idea may seem mystical, but it was
actually the doctors themselves who whispered through the cracks to the patients. As the day passed
away, we walked back to the bus to drive towards the city of Izmir and check into the Talises Hotel in
time for dinner at the hotel. Dinner replenished the group and after a couple of bites everybody was
back to their usual selves, talking and laughing with everybody else. After a day of seeing the ruins of
ancient towns, it was comforting to finally go to sleep in a place that I knew wouldn’t crumble into
pieces. Görüşücez or for those who don’t know Turkish, see you next time.
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