Çanakkale has a very important Turkish history as well as the history of the world. It is the city where the actual story one of the bravery legends of the world was written by Turkish troops defending their country against allied forces of England, Australia and New Zealand of disproportionate strength, known as “War of Dardanelles” in history books.
An equally important legend was written by people of Troy though a site 30 km to the south of Çanakkale and 5 km from the Aegean Sea. The legend is supposed to have taken place sometime in the 13th century BC. as narrated in Troy Legend (in Iliad) written by Homer regarded as the first poet of Western cultures when a coalition of Greek forces led by King Agamemnon of Mycenae besieged the city of Troy to reclaim Helen, wife of Menelaos, King of Argos and brother of Agamemnon. Helen was abducted by the Trojan prince Paris and taken as his prize for choosing Aphrodite as the most beautiful goddess in a competition with Athena and Hera. Based on Homer’s story it is understood that Troy fell through the trickery of “the Trojan horse ruse” rather than any defensive failing.
Turkey has announced that 2018 will be revived as The Year of Troy in reference to the 20th year anniversary of the ancient city of Troy's recognition by UNESCO in its World Heritage List. It is expected that an approximate number of 700,000 tourists will visit Çanakkale city and attend many cultural and artistic events to be held on this occasion, bringing in considerable revenues for the country.
As a part of the celebrations, the Troy Museum will be opened for visitors. Additionally, visitors will be able to see pieces that were stolen from the ancient city and brought back to Turkey after hard efforts of the Turkish Ministry of Culture and Tourism.
On the other hand it is reported that the Ministry will invite some prominent faces from Hollywood such as Brad Pitt, Diane Kruger, Eric Bana and Orlando Bloom who played unforgettable parts in the film called TROY.
