Troy’s oldest agora reveals city rebuilt after war
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Archaeologists in Turkey uncovered Troy’s oldest agora, a public space dating back 2,800 years, on Hisarlik hill.
The Turkish Ministry of Culture and Tourism and Çanakkale Onsekiz Mart University have been excavating the site since 2014. This discovery challenges previous beliefs that Troy remained abandoned for centuries after its fall around 1184 BC. Researchers previously thought the Aeolian Greeks, who later renamed the city Ilion, were the first to resettle Troy in the 8th century BC.
However, the new agora, along with a paved road and Iron Age pottery, indicates people returned to the area only 80 to 90 years after the war. These settlers reused existing walls when constructing their homes, showing a continuity of life at the site. The archaeological history of Troy began in 1870 when Heinrich Schliemann started excavations inspired by Homer’s Iliad and Odyssey, dividing the site into nine chronological phases.
UNESCO designated Troy a World Heritage site in 1998, recognizing its cultural importance.
