The Dardanelles... A tremendous amount of world commerce depends on sea travel. Since commerce means wealth and wealth means power, the people who control the sea have enormous commercial - not to mention military - power. The best place for a small group of people to control an awful lot of sea is at a strait. The story of the Canakkale Bogazi, or the Dardanelles, is one of people battling each another for control of this narrow passage which unites the Mediterranean and Aegean seas with the Marmara and Black seas. In ancient times it was the Achaeans attacking the Trojans: in modern times the Anzacs facing Ataturk at Gallipoli. The name "Dardanelles" comes from Dardanus, ruler of a very early city-state at Canakkale, who controlled the straits. The story of the Dardanelles is not all war and commerce; romance. too. has been central to its mythical associations: legend says that the goddess Helle fell from a golden-winged ram into the water here, giving the straits the name of Hellespont. The lovesick Leander, separated from his beloved Hero, swam to her through the fierce currents each night, until one night he didn't make it. "Swimming the Hellespont" is a challenge for amateur and professional swimmers to this day. The height of romance is the story of two ancient peoples battling over the love and honour of Helen, the most beautiful Woman in the world. Historians now tell us that Helen was just a pawn in the fierce commercial and military rivalries between Achaea and Troy. Still, no one says she wasn't beautiful, or that the Trojan horse didn't actually fool the Trojans and lead to their defeat by the Achaeans. The area of the straits holds these attractions: the town of Canakkale, a fast-growing agricultural centre on the south-east shore; the fortifications, ancient and modern, which guarded the straits; the battlefields of Gallipoli on the north-west side ofthe straits; and the excavated ruins of ancient Troy 32 km to the south. For a week in mid-August, the Canakkale Festival fills the hotels in town. If you plan to be here around mid-August, arrive early in the day and start your search for a hotel room at once. You can easily walk to Canakkale's interesting sights. Everything you need is within two blocks of the ferry docks and the clock tower, except for the otogar and the Archaeological Museum. To get from the otogar to the centre of town near the clock tower and car-ferry docks, leave the otogar by the front doors, turn left, walk to the first turning to the right and follow signs straight to the ferryboat. Just before the docks you'll see the vaguely Teutonic clock tower.

Here are two important links inside of the Toprak Home Page...

Cannon Monument...

In the broad main street at the centre of the town is a monument constructed of old WW I cannons. The words on the plaque translate as "Turkish soldiers used these cannons on 18 March 1915 to ensure the impassability of the Canakkale strait".

Military Zone...

There is an interesting Military & Naval Museum, in the Military Zone at the southern end of the quay, open from 9 am to 12 noon and from 1.30 to 5 pm, admission free. The nice lawns and gardens are open for strolling until 10pm. Start from the ferry docks and walk along the quay to the zone and its fortress.

You'll see a mock-up of the old minelayer "Nusrat", which had an heroic role in the Gallipoli campaign. The day before the Allied fleet was to steam through the straits, Allied minesweepers proclaimed the water cleared. At night the Nusrat went out, picked up loose mines and relaid them, helping to keep the Allies from penetrating the straits the next day. There's also a small museum with memorabilia of Atatürk and the battles of Gallipoli.

The impressive fortress, built by Mehmet the Conqueror in the mid-1400s, is still considered active in the defence of the straits. So it is forbidden to climb to the top of the walls or keep, but you're free to examine the wonderful old cannons left from various wars; many were made in French, English and German foundries. The keep is now a gallery with changing exhibits.

Archaeology Museum...

Canakkale's "Arkeoloji Müzesi" or Archaeology Museum is on the southern outskirts of town, about one km from the clock tower, on the road to Troy. Hours are from 10 am to 5 pm, closed Monday. The museum's exhibits are arranged chronologically, starting with prehistoric fossils and continuing with Bronze Age and later artefacts. Perhaps the most interesting exhibits are those from Troy, labelled (in Turkish and English) by "city", that is, Troy I, Troy II, etc; and the exhibits from Dardanos, the ancient town near Canakkale. The collection is pleasantly displayed. Don't miss the glass case of bone pins and small implements near the exit.

Gallipoli...

The slender peninsula which forms the north-western side of the straits, across the water from Canakkale, is called "Gelibolu" in Turkish. The fortress on the Gallipoli side of the strait, visible from Canakkale, is called Kilitbahir, "Lock on the Sea". It was built by Mehmet the Conqueror as an aid to cutting off supplies and reinforcements to Constantinople, which he held under siege in the 1450s. Many foreign naval forces have tried over the centuries to force any such "lock" put on the Dardanelles. Most have had Istanbul as their goal, and most have failed.

On the hillside by Kilitbahir, clearly visible from the far shore, are gigantic letters spelling out the first few words of a poem by Necmettin Halil Onan.

Dur yolcu ! Bilmeden gelip bastigin...
Bu toprak bir devrin battigi yerdir
Egil de kulak ver, bu sessiz yigin...
Bir vatan kalbinin attagi yerdir

Traveller, halt ! The soil you tread...
Once witnessed the end of an era
Listen ! In this quiet mound...
There once beat the heart of a nation

The poem refers to the battles of Gallipoli in WW I. With the intention of capturing the Ottoman capital and the road to eastern Europe, Winston Churchill, First Lord of the Admiralty, organised a naval assault on the straits. A strong Franco - British fleet tried first to force them in March 1915 but failed. Then, in April, British, Australian and New Zealand troops were landed on Gallipoli, and French troops near Canakkale. After nine months of disastrous defeats the Allied forces were withdrawn. The Turkish success at Gallipoli was partly due to disorganisation on the Allied side, and partly due to reinforcements under the command of General Liman von Sanders. But a crucial element in the defeat was that the Allied troops happened to land in a sector where they faced Lieutenant - Colonel Mustafa Kemal (Atatürk). Though a relatively minor officer, he had General von Sanders' confidence. He guessed the Allied battle plan correefly when his commanders did not, and stalled the invasion by bitter fighting which wiped out his division. Though suffering from malaria, he commanded in full view of his troops and of the enemy, and miraculously escaped death several times. At one point a piece of shrapnel tore through the breast pocket of his uniform, but was stopped by his pocket watch (now in the Canakkale Military & Naval Museum). His brilliant performance made him a folk hero and paved the way for his promotion to general.

Both the Turkish and the Allied troops fought desperately and fearlessly and devastated one another. The action was decided not by bravery, but by luck and chance. The Gallipoli campaign lasted for nine months, until January 1916, and resuited in huge numbers of casualties on both sides. The British Gommonwealth nations suffered over 200,000 casualties, with the loss of some 36,000 lives. French casualties of 47,000 were over half of the entire French contingent. Of the half-million Turkish troops who participated in the battle, one out of every two was a casualty, with more than 55,000 dead. There are now 31 war cemeteries on the peninsula, as well as several important monuments. You can visit Turkish, British and French monumentato the war dead at Seddülbahir, as well as Australian and New Zealand cemeteries at Ariburnu. Other points you'll want to see include Anzac Cove, and the memorials at Cape Helles, Lone Pine, Twelve Tree Copse, Hill 60 and Chunuk Bair.