IDA - 3200 years ago

Mountain of Ida, Turkey is one the most populated regions that humans chose to live since the early ages. Being on the crossroads of immigration trails from South to North and East to West provided the region an important geopolitical and strategical value. Having rich natural and underground resources with addition to a suitable climate and soil enabled the region to be a favorite settlement area.

Iliada gives us the initial written information on the nature of the region while describing the life at Ida 3200 years ago. In Homer's verses Ida is presented as a country of heaven for gods and humans with forests, variety of animals and plentiful water resources deserving the name "thousand springs".

Although thousands of years passed not much has changed in the Ida region. With the emerald coloured springs and abundant oxygen in the air,

Mount Ida still carries its fame today.

Among many other resorts in the area

Club Afrodit, http://www.clubafrodit.com/

serves as a center to the guests who are interested in visiting the places that stood witness to history for thousands of years.

APHRODITE Lets travel to the depths of history and take a look at the first beauty contest. Paris was left to his own destiny and deserted in Mount Ida. Agelaos finds him and takes him home. Paris grows up with the clean air and cool waters of the mountain.

Paris had a happy life at Mount Ida when gods were having a feast at Olympos. Ares, God of Wars pops an apple on the table written to the "most beautiful" on it. Hera, the wife of Zeus wanted to take the apple saying "I am the most beautiful among you". Aphrodite objected and said, "Nobody can be more beautiful than I". The god of intelligence and ingenuity Athena interferes and asks Zeus to be the judge. Zeus had a hard time to determine the most beautiful and announced that Paris who is only a shephard at Ida Mountain will make the decision. Paris was a little startled with the revelations of the intentions of the three beauties.

Hera offered him to be the King of Asia, Athena assured intelligence and success, Aphrodite offered the most beautiful girl to be his if he chose her. Paris extended the golden apple to Aphrodite. From then on all gods accepted Aphrodite with the golden apple the most beautiful goddess. So according to this legend the first beauty contest of the world took place on Ida then.

HISTORIC TEXTURE

TROY : City of Truva (Troy, Troia, Ilion or Illium) is built on the Hisarcık Hill, 30 Kilometers away from Çanakkale. There were different stories about the place until the start of the excavations by German archaeologist Schliemann in 1873.According to the legend Trak's were the founders of the city. They arrived at Anatolia 3000 years before Christ through the Dardanels and they determined that Hisarcık Hill was suitable for their settlement and the City of Troy was formed. Another legend says an unknown king Tros (or Dardanos) founded the city at an unknown time. As described in Iliada, the city that Akha'a have destroyed and burned was Truva the sixth. In the course of history the City of Troy was destroyed a number of times and was rebuilt. According to Scliemann 9 layers of city was built on top each other in time. First city was built in the Stone age and the last was built by Romans. Legend says that the walls around the city of 6th Troy is very strongly and thick because King Laomedon had the gods (Poseidon, Apollon) to construct them. Because of this reason Truva was known as non-conquerable. However, when one of the early kings of Troy, Laomedon made Herakles angry, Herakles and Telamon gathered an army and occupied the city in a day. This incident happened tens of years before Agamemnon has sieged the Troy with his armies. Trojans became rich with their commercial fleet traded in Aegean, Marmara and Black Sea. Because of Dardanelles is like the gate to Aegean Sea, They had the waterway under control. Meanwhile, Minos State was destroyed by Akha's who also wanted to take over the control in the Aegean and Dardanelles. There has been an ongoing friction between Trojans and the Akha'ns because of this reason.

ASSOS:


Assos is an antique city built on a 238 meters high basaltic in western Old Anatolia. Its ruins can be seen around Behram village.Satnioeis river flows on the Northern Skirts of the mountain. Assos city is built by Aiols that came from the Mthymna city of Lesbos island. Assos was ruled by Lydia'ns between 560 and 547 BC and Persians between 547 and 479 BC. After gaining its sovereignity became a member of Attika Sea Union. An oligarchic administration was established in 405 BC. In 366 BC Lydia governor Ariobarzanes, while organizing a mutiny against King of Persia, joined his forces with Eubulos, a rich businessman to take over the whole shore strip from Atarneus to Assos. When the city was under siege by Lydia governor Autophradates and Karia governor Maussollos, the enemies of Ariobarzanes Eubulos defended the city with success. The siege was lifted with the interference of Agesilaos the King of Sparta. The administration of the city was taken by Hermias in 350 BC. Hermias was an eunuch slave of Eubulos. However he was sent to training in Athens by Eubulos because he was very talented. Hermias became a student of Plateo and became friends with Aristophanes. On his return to Anatolia he became financial and political partner and a friend to Eubulos. Hermias gave the city of Assos as a gift to Erastos and Koriskos who were students of Plateo. They established a philosopy school in the city and influenced Hermias in the government administration. After the death of Plateo with the invitation of Hermias, Aristophanes and Ksenokrates came to Assos and started the first school of Philosophy. This way Assos became an important center of meditation of the Greek during the three years 347-345 BC Aristophanes lived in the city.. Kleanthes (330-231), the second president of Kıstoa School was born in Assos. After the death of Hermias Assos is gone under Persian rule again and was saved by Alexander The Great in 334 BC. From then on like the other Troas region Assos was ruled by different monarchs and like the other Pergamum Kings and Pergamum Kingdom was occupied by Romans in 133 BC. Although Assos name is not seen in the history from then on, the importance was not lost. Name Makhramion was given by the Byzantians. Todays name Behram comes from there. The importance of Assos comes especially from controling the road that extends from Alexandria Traos to Adramytteion and to Pergamum. Because of this the city has been heavily fortified since the early times. The Gates and the walls which are well protected was built in the 4th and 3rd BC. They are the shining examples of Greek fortification art. Other buildings and specially the Athena Temple at the highest point of the city is worth mentioning. In addition there is an amphiteather, gymnasium, and the ruins of a trellis on the North edge of the agora. On the sea shore the ruins of an old breakwater can still be observed. On the west Akropolis a street can be seen with graves on both sides. Also many cenotaphs can be seen on this street.

APOLLO SMINTHEUS TEMPLE: Apollo Smintheus Temple is located at Külahlı with the old name and at the entrance of the valley and lies between North West to North East of Gülpynar County at the present in the spesific area called The Gardens. The area is rich in water sources and supplied by underwater springs, quite possibly supplied with underground channels constructed in the antique ages.The richness of water at the Hellenistic age when the temple was constructed is a sign of Apollon culture. Because God Apollon required water to see the future. This must have been the reason of building the temple in this area. We see the Hellenistic Age and its architecture (330-30 BC) as an appreciated and loved subject by archaeologists, architects art historians. For the Hellenistic era, Gülpınar's Apollon Smintheus Temple gathers attention with style and architectural design besides the reliefs describing some of Iliada saga of Homeros. The temple that was built in 150 BC in Ion style is the only model on the north west Troas region. Pseudodipteros design of Hermogenes who undersigned the Hellenistic Era Anatolian Architecture, is applied at the Temple. Has 8 on the front and rear and 14 columns on the long sides. Temples measurements are, narrow faces 23,20 and long sides are 41,65 meters. Three different Stone kinds are used in the foundation. Foundation is made of volkanic tufa Stone special to the region. Outside is covered with basalt-andesite stone that can be seen a lot in the region. Foundation and the last of eleven steps are made of marble. Holy space that is paved by marble blocs is formed in three rooms. These are from the entrance consecutively Pronaos (holy initial room), Naos (holy room), opisthodomos (rear room). It is a known fact that in Naos, there was a statue of Apollon, which a 1.10 cm piece of the leg has been recovered, made by Skopas, sculptor of Paros. The holy statue, which a picture is also on the Alexandria Troas Hellenistic age coins describes God Apollon stepping on Smintheus the mouse who gave the name to temple is quite possibly 5 meters high.