Archaeologists working at the ancient city of Troy in Türkiye’s northwestern Çanakkale province have uncovered remains of an agora believed to be approximately 2,800 years old.

The excavation is taking place near the southern gate of Troy VI, where researchers have worked since 2014 to clarify the relationship between Bronze Age Troy and the later Archaic and Classical settlement known as Ilion.

Professor Reyhan Körpe, deputy head of the excavation, said the area appears to have functioned as a marketplace during the Late Bronze Age. Settlers arriving roughly 80 to 90 years after the earlier city was abandoned apparently revived the same public space.

Researchers have found structures associated with the agora, pottery fragments from the Early Iron Age and evidence that later residents reused sections of Troy VI’s walls. Houses were constructed over older remains rather than on an entirely new site.

The discoveries may help fill a poorly understood period in Troy’s history and show that the settlement’s identity survived major destruction and demographic change. They also contribute to the debate over connections among Troy, the Hittite-era name Wilusa and Greek Ilion.

Troy has a settlement history stretching back about 5,000 years and was repeatedly damaged and rebuilt after wars, fires and earthquakes. The site became internationally famous through Homer’s account of the Trojan War in the Iliad.

Excavation teams will continue studying the agora and its associated finds to establish a more precise chronology. Troy has been included on UNESCO’s World Heritage List since 1998 and remains one of Türkiye’s most important archaeological destinations.

Sources: Hürriyet Daily News; Daily Sabah.

Featured photo: Zekeriya Sen/Unsplash.