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The plain of Troy
Unless otherwise indicated, pictures on this page © Marco Prins and Jona Lendering. Photos can be downloaded and used for non-commercial purposes, but you have to acknowledge Livius.

For Troy itself, go here.
Besik bay. Photo Jona Lendering. Besik bay. For centuries, this was one of the harbors near Troy. To the north of this plain, colonists from Lesbos founded a settlement called Achilleum, and it suggest that the Lesbians believed that the hero was buried nearby.
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Besik bay with the island Tenedos. Photo Jona Lendering. Besik bay with the island Tenedos. According to the ancient legends, the Greek attackers of Troy went into hiding on Tenedos after leaving behind the Trojan horse.
Besik tepe. Photo Jona Lendering. One of the giant tumuli on the southern plain of Troy, called Besik-Sevritepe. It was believed that the heroes of the Trojan war were buried in these artificial mounds. This one may be the tumulus that the Lesbians regarded as the tomb of Achilles.
Kesik tepe. Photo Marco Prins. Kesik tepe, also known as the Demetrius tumulus. This is the most impressive mound on the Trojan plain, and it is close to the site of ancient Sigeum.
Kesik tepe. Photo Marco Prins. Again, Kesik tepe. The Roman author Arrian of Nicomedia writes that Alexander the Great arrived in Asia near Sigeum and sacrificed to Achilles when he was on his way to Troy. This suggests that in the fourth century, Kesik tepe was regarded as the tomb of Achilles.
Kesik tepe. Photo Marco Prins. Kesik tepe. 
The entrance of the Hellespont, seen from the Demetrius tumulus. Photo Marco Prins. The entrance of the Hellespont, seen from Kesik tepe.
Another tumulus, very close to the entrance of the Hellespont. It is called Kum tepe. Taking Homer's description of the Trojan plain literally, the first excavator of Troy, Heinrich Schliemann, believed that this was the tomb of Achilles. Philostratus also seems to imply that this mound was recognized as the Achilleum (at least in the early third century CE), although his words can also be read as evidence for Kesik tepe.
The river Scamander. Photo Jona Lendering. The river Scamander. This not a large river and it comes as no surprise that it was insufficient to supply drinking water to the army of the Persian king Xerxes, who invaded Greece in 480 BCE.
to part two

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