Troy Culture Route
Troya Kültür Rotası
A 120 km walk through the Troad in north-west Turkey, from the ruins of Troy to the ancient harbour of Assos on the Gulf of Edremit.
At a glance
- Starts in
- Troy archaeological site
- Ends in
- Assos ancient harbour
- Length
- 120 km
- On foot
- 5–7 days
- Countries
Türkiye
About the trail
The Troad, the corner of Anatolia around Çanakkale, sits where the Aegean meets the Dardanelles and where routes between Europe and Asia have crossed since prehistoric times. Its past runs from the Trojan War of Homer's Iliad through Lydian, Persian, Hellenistic, Roman, Byzantine and Ottoman rule to the Dardanelles campaign of the First World War. The Troy Culture Route, opened in 2018, which Turkey declared the Year of Troy, walks south through this landscape from the UNESCO-listed ruins of Troy to the ancient harbour of Assos.
On the way it passes 16 archaeological sites and 7 historical sites, along with villages and beaches, and it can be walked in full or in shorter thematic sections. Walkers are encouraged to begin at the Troy Museum, whose collections set the scene for the Iliad.
Culture Routes in Turkey and UNDP describe a route of about 120 km that takes five to seven days in full. It was launched by the Çanakkale History and Culture Foundation and the Governorship of Çanakkale with support from the Ministry of Culture and Tourism, UNDP and Anadolu Efes, and maps and brochures are handed out at the Troy Museum and the ruins, with a mobile app for navigation.