Troy

Previously considered a legendary city, Troy (or Ilium) was proved to be a reality after the discovery of its ruins by Heinrich Schliemann in 1870 in a mound called Hissarlik. Today, we know that there were at least nine cities built one on each other in the same territory and the first city had been founded in the third millennium BC.

During the Bronze Age, Troy seems to have been a flourishing mercantile city, since its location allowed for complete control of the Dardanelles, through which every merchant ship from the Aegean Sea heading for the Black Sea had to pass.

The seventh city, which was founded in the 13th century BC, seems to have been destroyed by a war, and there are obvious traces of a big city fire. Therefore, this city is supposed to be the one depicted in the legend of Trojan War. The last city on this site was founded by Romans during the reign of the emperor Augustus and it seems to have been a very important city until the establishment of Constantinople in the fourth century as the eastern capital of the Roman Empire. Afterwards the vitality of the city declined gradually, and it disappeared. Today there is a Turkish city called Çanakkale in the close vicinity of Troy.

The legendary history of the war with Greece is the topic of Homer's Iliad and one of the subjects of Virgil's Aeneid, in which Aeneas has to abandon Troy, an event that (very) indirectly leads to the founding of Rome.

Celje was called the second or small Troy - Troia secunda.

See also: Lost cities

Troy is also the name of a number of places in the United States of America:

• Troy, Idaho
• Troy, Maine
• Troy, Michigan
• Troy, New York
• Troy, Ohio
• Troy, Pennsylvania

Troy is also the short name for the troy measuring system, which is used in the United States to weigh gold and silver.