Which island contains the ancient city of Troy, according to its archaeological site?
Answer
None—it is on mainland Turkey
Troy is not on an island; its archaeological site is on mainland Turkey.
The ruins identified with ancient Troy lie at Hisarlik in Çanakkale Province, near the Dardanelles in northwestern Anatolia. The site is on a low hill close to the Aegean coast, not on the nearby islands of Bozcaada or Gökçeada.
Troy became famous through Homer’s Iliad, which tells of the Trojan War and figures such as Hector, Achilles, and Helen. Archaeological excavations have revealed multiple settlement layers built one above another, reflecting thousands of years of occupation and destruction.
Heinrich Schliemann’s excavations in the 19th century helped bring Hisarlik to international attention, although his methods damaged some archaeological layers. UNESCO listed the Archaeological Site of Troy as a World Heritage Site in 1998. The nearby islands are geographically close, which may help explain occasional confusion about the site’s location.