Troy

Computer model of the city at the time of the Trojan War, Manfred Korfmann

Until archeologist Heinrich Schliemann began excavating the site in 1870, modern people hadn't realized that Troy, or Ilium, really existed. The Iliad, by the great blind Greek bard Homer, was assumed to be a work of fiction. But subsequent and extensive excavations have shown many layers of occupation. Troy (Turkish Truva) was occupied for at least 4000 years.

UNESCO says this World Heritage Site demonstrates the first contact between the ancient civilizations of Anatolia and those of the Mediterranean.

The Trojan Women, by Euripides, portrays what horrors the women and children of the city face when the war is over. In one grueling scene, Andromache, the widow of the dead Hector, must be parted from her young son, who is thrown from the city walls. Based on actual findings at the site, the computer reconstruction shows what those walls may have been like.