Things to do
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Gallipoli Peninsula Historical Site
More than 33,000 hectares of the peninsula across the strait form this national park of the 1915 campaign, with Anzac Cove, Lone Pine, Chunuk Bair and the Turkish memorials along one road. Cemeteries, sunken wrecks and memorials to Turkish, British, French, Australian and New Zealand soldiers line the route. A full circuit takes most of a day, and a guided tour saves the driving.
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Troy
Nine cities stacked on one mound over three thousand years, excavated since Schliemann cut a trench through it in 1871. The layers are the point rather than the walls, and the museum below the site is what makes sense of them.
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Çanakkale Kordon
A wide promenade runs along the strait from the ferry terminal, lined with cafes and restaurants facing the water and Kilitbahir across it. The wooden horse built for the 2004 film Troy stands on it, and ferries cross the strait in full view. The evening walk here is the centre of social life, busiest at sunset when the lights come on across the strait.
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Çanakkale Naval Museum
Housed in and around Çimenlik Castle on the waterfront, this museum centres on a replica of the minelayer Nusret, whose mines sank Allied battleships on 18 March 1915. A British shell from that day still sits unexploded in the hole it made in the castle wall. Cannons from the long defence of the strait fill the gardens along the shore, with boats, uniforms and firmans indoors.
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Kilitbahir Castle
Mehmed II built this heart-shaped fortress on the European shore in 1463, facing its twin at Çanakkale, to close the Dardanelles at their narrowest point. The name means lock of the sea. Regular ferries cross from Çanakkale to the village at its foot, and after restoration the castle is open to visitors, with the keep climbable for a view over the strait.
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Troy Museum
A rust-coloured cube sunk into the field below the mound, opened in 2018, holding the finds from Troy and the Troad including gold recovered from Germany and the United States. It is one of the best modern museums in the country.
