You are now standing on the remains of the outer wall of the Greek and Roman temple precinct from the period of Troy VIII/IX (third century BCE – c. CE 500). In front of you lie the fortifications of Troy/Ilios. You will recognize the East Tower, the East Wall (whit its gate), and behind them the palaces –all of the Troy VI period (c.1700-1250 BCE). On the fortifications-wall you can see remains of Troy VII houses. Troy VI was probably destroyed c. 1250 BCE by an earthquake, Troy VIIa and VIIb by fire.
Behind you lay the lower town of Greek and Roman Ilion. To the north are the Dardanelles, and the plain of the Kara Menderes (the ancient Scamander) extends to the west. To the southeast you can see on a clear day the peaks of the Kaz Dağları (the Ida Mountains); to the southwest, one of the burial-mounds (Üvecik Tepe) and the harbour/bay on the Aegean coast (Beşik Bay),visible as a depression, with the Island of Bozcaada (Tenedos) in the distance.
The East Wall and Gate
The total circumference of the fortification-wall around the citadel amounts to 550 meters, of which approximately 330 are still preserved. The section in front of you displays a highly refined technique of the rectangular limestone blocks. This wall is subdivided by vertical offsets placed at regular intervals. These continued the lines of the corners of the timber-framed superstructure which probably once stood on the wall, so providing ( as it were) a visual foundation. The superstructure, no longer preserved, reached up a further 3-4 m. Besides timber beams, this was initially built of sundried mudbrick; but in time the whole superstructure was replaced by a narrow stone wall. Two overlapping sections of wall constitute the entrance to the citadel. Already in the Hellenistic period, the eastern wall of this gateway was deeply cut into by the retaining and foundation wall of the temple precinct.
The East Tower
This massive tower, built outside the wall only in a late phase of Troy VI, is very carefully worked. It is eleven meters wide and projects eight meters from the face of the wall. Its eastern wall is three meters thick. The tower consisted of two storeys, whit a wooden floor in between. Access to the tower was only possible at the second-storey level.
The Palaces
Palaces VIE and VIF each have only one interior room, of 64 and 98 sq.m. respectively. Their outer walls are one meter thick and are oriented radially towards a point at the center of the citadel, producing buildings that are trapezoidal in plan. Within the west wall of palace VIF are recesses which once held wooden beams. On the floor are stone bases for pillars. The room had two entrances. The retaning-wall of VIF displays an advanced technique of construction which dates it to the end of the Troy VI period (c.1400-1250 BCE.)This wall, too, exhibits the "offset" technique. Buildings VIE and VIF were separated by a passageway approximately one meter wide.
