Monday, 27 October 2025
Çanakkale, Turkey

Çanakkale is a popular cruise destination primarily due to its proximity to the ancient city of Troy and its significance in World War I history. The city lies along both sides of the Dardanelles Strait (also knows as the Hellespont) that links the landlocked Sea of Marmara to the Aegean. Like Istanbul on the Bosphorus--which connects the Marmara to the Black Sea--Çanakkale straddles Europe and Asia. The port has played a pivotal role in history from the myth of the Golden Fleece to the Gallipoli campaign of World War I. It also serves as a portal back in time to ancient Troy and the Trojan War of Homer’s Iliad.  

We start our day with breakfast and we are both impressed by the incredible array of food available in the Colonnade, the more casual dining area on deck nine, with both inside and outside tables. In addition to a wide selection available at hot and cold buffets, special orders are available from servers. Will has perfect eggs Benedict and I enjoy Greek lemon pancakes. Of course, we also indulge in other goodies along with our coffee--the selection of fresh fruits is especially appealing. LFLatSea will provide photos of the Colonnade and breakfast offerings in a later blog.

We are going on separate shore excursions this morning. Will joins a three-hour coach tour of "Panoramic Çanakkale" that takes him on a leisurely drive along the Dardanelles Strait where he visits amazing landscapes and Turkish gun placements from World War I. He also enjoys a sampling of local cheese and wines.

I embark on a more strenuous expedition to the ancient city of Troy. Although the city, Homer's Ilium, originally stood against the sea, it is now about a one-hour drive from the port. We stop first at the Troy Museum, an impressive structure that tells the history and mythology of the area in striking relics and exhibits. The building itself is sheathed in metal to mark the Bronze Age history of the original.

From the museum we drive the short distance to the site of Troy itself, originally "discovered" by the German, Heinrich Julius Schliemann, in the 1870s.  Having taught the literature of this period to over thirty years of university students, it is particularly thrilling to see the site for myself.

The most remarkable aspect of the ruins is the combination of seven levels of Trojan history, each revealed on the top of the earlier. The age of the ruins are clearly marked indicating to which phase of Trojan history they belong. 

The Outermost Walls of Troy

The Tour Group at the First Gateway into the City

The Oldest Section of the Citadel (under protective cover)

Numbered Signs Indicate to Which Historical Period Each Relic Belongs

A Triumphal Ramp (left); Site of Animal Sacrifice (right)

As we leave the site we get a good view of the recently installed, plastic Trojan Horse (known locally as the Trojan Llama, we are told).

After returning to the ship and reuniting with Will, my original plan is to take the free Seabourn shuttle into the town of Çanakkale. But after four days in Istanbul and embarking on the cruise, both Will and I are ready for lunch in the Colonnade and a good long nap. So long, in fact, that we forgo dinner entirely and continue our rest to the next morning, which I will continue in the next entry.