Museum of Troy
With a history of 5000 years and a significance for the development of European Civilization, Troy represents a profound cultural influence artistically and historically from the time of Homer to the World War I.
The Ministry of Culture and Tourism of Turkey, the organizer of the competition expropriated 10 hectares for the purpose. The museum, planned to be constructed close to the archeological site, adjacent to the village of Tevfikiye in Canakkale will conserve and exhibit the artifacts unearthed at the site. The museum contains conservation and restoration labs, 2000 sqms of storage, permanent and temporary exhibition spaces, activity areas, café, restaurants and retail facilities as well as access to natural environment.
The archeological site of Troy was inscribed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1998 because of its outstanding universal value as a site that has witnessed various civilizations for over 4000 years and has been a significant influence on the development of the Western civilization, arts and literature over two millennia. The Museum of Troy, located 800 meters from the site, is honoring this heritage and is a medium to tell the rich history of Troy in relation to its natural, cultural, artistic and archeological context. The museum building was acquired as a result of a national architectural design contest held by the Ministry of Culture and Tourism of Turkey in 2011. The museum building is completed in October 2018 and now welcomes its visitors.
At the entrance of the museum, the following text welcomes the visitors;
Our adventure in this region started 5000 years ago... Once upon a time, when this place, which is now a plain, was still a gulf, we were a brilliant city on major trade routes. We witnessed celebrations and heroism. We saw wars and fires. Historians and archaeologists have been searching for clues about our past, filled with secrets, for years.
We walked on the land on which you are walking now, throughout the long and tortured history of our city. We planted crops on the land through which you are walking. We built fortifications with these stones and caught fish from the sea. We made pots with this earth. We rested beneath the olive trees on hot summer days. We fought. We experienced a reversal of fortune…
Try to commit this region’s wind, earth, sky, sea, olive trees, and stones to your memory. Soon, as you walk down the ramp, the ruins of the bastions and the fertile soil of the Troad will be left behind. The ramp will take you through the Troad and carry you into the mysterious world of the story of Troy, which is waiting to be discovered. Here, you will begin to understand the people who have come and gone from Troy, and who have inherited these lands.
