After exploring many of the ruins east and south of Izmir (I will write about the south part soon), I am now heading north. Troy, Pergamon and Assos are on the list (yes, there are more ruins to see…). But are the other ruins better than what I have seen so far? And between the three of them.. Troy, Pergamon and Assos, which one is the best to see?
Going north would be a long drive, especially just to see Troy (being the furthest north), so I decided to make a few stops along the way. First up, a two day detour to the coastal village Çeşme. A cute small town west of Izmir.
Çeşme
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So, which one is best… Troy, Pergamon and Assos. First up…
The Acropolis of Pergamon
I was in the town Bergama on my last trip already. However, as it was cold and rainy, I didn’t explore the Pergamon ruins. I only drove the very steep and narrow road up to the gate, looked at it and drove back again. I only went to see the smaller ruins, the Pergamon Asclepion. (Read my blog here)
This time, the weather was great but the small ‘dangerous’ road was still the same. Steep and narrow. Especially when you have 6 cab drivers coming your way, all at the same time, and nowhere to pull over to. Maybe I should take the cable car next time? It would be much safer.. but where would the adventure be?
Pergamon, once a rich and powerful Greek city of Mysia was quite nice to explore. Sitting on top of the hill, the acropolis of Pergamon is stunning looking down at the modern Bergama city. The 360 degree view is amazing. They certainly knew how to pick their spot for a city back then.
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However, for me, the steepness of the ancient theatre was the most impressive. And walking down (and up) the stairs felt like a great workout. Who needs a gym when you have the ruins.
Read more about the history here.
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The trip continues…
Further north, approx 160km on top of a small cute village, called Behramkale, sit the ruins of Assos. It took almost 3 hours driving from Pergamon as the road lead through a lot of towns with speed limits. So I made an overnight stop near Ayvalik, another coastal town, created mainly for tourists who like resorts.
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The Temple of Assos
Once I parked my car, walking up the narrow cobble stone streets through the village is quite cute. And with plenty of tourist shops along the way, it seems like it is quite a popular tourist spot. Although I was early enough to avoid them.
Personally, I was also quite amazed how many boutique beach hotels there were along the old coastal road between Küçükkuyu and Behramkale.
I didn’t spend much time walking at the Assos ancient site, but only took a few pictures of the Temple of Athena (Daughter of Zeus and the goddess of wisdom) and the beautiful backdrop. And given the amazing ocean view, I can understand why she would have loved this particular spot. I did too. Although it was a bit windy.
But lets continue on which one is best to see? Troy, Pergamon and Assos?
The ’legendary’ ruins of Troy
To see or not to see? That was the big question I had about Troy. It is far up north and not really on the way to anything, so I had to drive up, see it and drive all the way back to Izmir. Was it worth it?
Upon entering Troy, there was a wooden horse. Of course. Then, in a room, you could watch the movie Troy. Ok? In terms of history, I didn’t know much about it besides the fact that it was the fighting spot between Hector (Eric Bana) & Achilles (Brad Pitt).
Then, after reading some signs, I found out that between 3000 B.C. and 500 A.D. it had many towns built on top of the existing ones, calling it now ’the 10 cities of Troy.’ (Read more here). That was quite interesting to see. Otherwise, I had to follow a path, looking at lots of piles of rock and no real structures.
Coming from all the previous ruins, walking around freely and creating fun photos, this was a little bit too boring for me. Sorry Troy.
So, was it worth it? Not for me. But I had to do it. It is Troy after all. And we all know the movie. I will call this trip, driving north of Izmir, a detour to Troy. Because there is not many other reasons to go that way.
Either way, I have seen new things, learned along the way, explored more of Turkey’s countryside and have now seen Troy. I am glad I did this trip. I can now tick it off. Let’s go back to Izmir.
Troy, Pergamon and Assos.. which one is best?
So, between Troy, Pergamon and Assos… which one is best to see? I’d have to say Pergamon. The clear winner. And I would highly recommend to take the cable car to get up there. You might even get some great views along the way.
As for me, after 8 days of driving almost 2000 km, circling Izmir in all directions, seeing lots and lots of ruins, it was time to return the car and jump on a bus to Antalya. 6.5 hours! Read my new Antalya Blog here. xxx
(post 173)
