Çanakkale

Understand

thumb | 300px | Downtown Çanakkale This area has been settled at least since 3000 BC. Çanakkale is the closest modern town to ancient Troy. Scholars disagree over the historicity of the ten-year conflict described in the Odyssey and Iliad, but the Hellenistic city-states were often at war. The Grecian settlement here was called Dardanellia (Δαρδανέλλια). It was at a pinchpoint in the straits of Dardanelles, here only 1.5 km across, so it had double strategic value: as a crossing place, and as a redoubt for controlling shipping through the straits. The Persian Empire under Xerxes and the Macedonians under Alexander the Great were two of the armies that marched this way.

The stakes were raised in 1462 when the Ottomans became established in Thrace, and built the fortress of Kale-i-Sultaniye. By then a cannon-blast could reach over halfway across the straits, so with an artillery position here and another on the opposite bank at Kilitbahir you had control. Those straits to the northeast broaden out into the Sea of Marmara, then pinch again into the Bosphorus, so Çanakkale controlled access to Istanbul, the Black Sea, and Russia.

This enabled the Ottomans to build a great empire by land and sea. The town became known for its fine-glazed pottery and from the 18th century was dubbed Çanak kalesi - "pottery castle". During the 19th and 20th century the Ottoman Empire crumbled, with national independence movements and other Great Powers wresting away territories in the Balkans, a…

Get around

Most of the places in Çanakkale are in walking distance. Dolmuşes run toward the War History Museum and beach strip to the south.

The Tourist Office has closed down, but lots of travel agents will sell you tours. These are the best way to reach Troy and the Gallipoli memorials if you don't have your own car.

Car rental: Avis are by the ferry pier, and Budget are 500 m north along the waterfront.

See

thumb | 300px | Trojan Horse (Truva Atı): The war has dragged on for nine years, the troops are near mutiny, and the last counter-attack from the besieged city was costly — we may have to quit. Say, let's pretend to quit and sail away, but leave behind by a giant model horse full of malware, which they'll import into the city... the tumult of Athens against Troy was matched by the tumoils of making the film Troy in 2004. Its Mediterranean scenes were filmed in Malta; it got mixed critical reviews but had a big-name cast and did well at the box office. When the movie-makers left (or pretended to do so) they left behind this giant steel and fibreglass film prop. The Maltese were understandably suspicious and wouldn't accept it, so it ended up here. Whatever you do, don't open it up! A cannon used in the battle of 1915 now guards Cumhuriyet Blvd by the ferry pier. It was this and similar artillery plus minefields that repulsed the naval attack, with the Allied fleet retreating on 18 March, a date still celebrated as a national victory. So the Allies' next ploy was the Gallipoli landings from 25 April, to try to knock out the shore guns. Piri Reis (Ahmet Muhiddin Piri 1465-1553) was an admiral, best known for his maps, among the first to depict North America. This gallery is near the Trojan Horse. The collection has also been housed in the Naval Museum and it's not known which, if any, are open in 2022. Necip Paşa Mosque is at the north end of the promenade. It's a rebuild of …

Do

thumb | 300px | The castle is now the Naval Museum Aqualand on the coast between Kepez and Dardanos beaches has water-rides, flumes and so on. Suitable for younger children, older teens will be bored. It's open year-round daily 10:00-18:00, adult 80 TL, child 50-60 TL. Don't swim across the Hellespont unless you're an experienced distance swimmer and have proper back-up and local expertise over currents and shipping lanes. Swimming specialist agencies can organise this, such as Swimtrek, and there's an annual Hellespont swim race in late August. Never treat it as an afternoon lark of "last across buys the beers". The channel here is 1.5 km wide by 70 m deep, and the pinchpoint makes the currents all the stronger. The main flow is outbound, as all the drainage into the Black Sea comes this way to join the Med. But there's a deep backflow, and where they meet creates turbulence felt on the surface.

Buy

Lots of ATMs near the ferry pier. The stores are a few blocks inland.

Eat

Local specialties are bomba (a döner in half a loaf with an omelette inside), and peynir helvasi a dessert of cheese, egg yolk, semolina and sugar. There are several places around the ferry pier and east along the waterfont, but the main cluster is west on Yalı Cd towards the Naval Museum. Husmenoglu is a patisserie famous for its peynir helvasi. It's at Yalı Cd 29 and open daily 08:00-23:30.

Drink

thumb | 300px | Coin from Dardanos, 500 BC Town nightlife is west of the harbour near the clock tower. Many places have live music at weekends.

Sleep

This isn't a tourist town, but its position as regional capital means lots of small hotels for business and other domestic travel. They're clustered along the street leading from the ferry pier. Another strip is by the beach a few km south.

Connect

thumb | 300px | Replica of the minelayer "Nusret" There is 4G from all Turkish carriers in the city and on the approach highways and ferries. As of Jan 2022, 5G has not rolled out in Turkey.

Lotus Game Center is an internet cafe by the ferry pier, open daily 09:00-01:00.

Go next

Kilitbahir is reached by a short ferry crossing from Çanakkale. It has a completely renovated large fortress from the 1500s of the same name ("lock of the sea") with a rather detailed, visual and informative exhibition on life in the fortress back in the days, also with an audioguide on offer (for 50 TL). Near it are the artillery positions which the ANZAC landings of 1915 were trying to knock out, so that Allied warships could sail up the straits to Istanbul. Over on the west coast are the ANZAC beachheads, pinned down by the Turkish defence so the Allies never reached the shore guns and their campaign was a disaster. You need a vehicle to reach these, or join an organised tour. Gökçeada is an island reached by ferry from Kabatepe west of Eceabat, or by summer water-bus from Çanakkale. It has semi-abandoned Greek villages. Bozcaada the island to the south is reached by ferry from Geyikli. It has an attractive old town and vineyards. Troy 30 km south is the ruins of an ancient city, in legend the target of the Trojan War. It has an excellent museum and the inevitable mock-up wooden horse. Bayramiç (70 km south via Ezine) is on the northern approaches to the forests of Mount Ida or Kazdağı (see Edremit for the southern approaches); Ayazma Pınarı 29 km southeast of the town is a particularly scenic, heavily forested nature park with waterfalls, trails and picnic facilities. The area is also the home to much of Turkey's nascent back-to-the-land and eco-settlements community. As…