Pop Quiz: how do you pronounce the above name?

Because Turkey uses the Latin alphabet instead of the cursive Arabic script, it seems as though we should know how to pronounce it. But the Turkish language has some marks on the letters that change the pronunciation. So, the above is pronounced Cha -Knock-lee.

This is the site of Troy, the city featured in the Iliad. To me, the amazing thing about the ruins is the many strata of constant human habitation going all the way back to the Neolithic. Access to water, a fertile plain and elevation, from which to see approaching people, were all necessary features.

Troy was only one of the many communities.

When one walks through the ruins, the different levels are very apparent, although there is some mixing. Sometimes the floors fell through into the lower level. Also, the walls show that newer groups built on the walls and other structures that came before.

The movie, Troy, with Brad Pitt was filmed here in 2003. There are two horses, one in front of the site, and one in town that was gifted by the movie crew. Of the two, the second is the most believable.