A small port city is located in the north-west of Turkey, on the coast of the Dardanella Strait, which connects the marble and Aegean seas. In Chanackal, you rarely hear Russian speech, random – often an archaeologist, museum minister or owner of ceramics, and the property of the embankment is a giant horse from the filming of the film “Troy”. It’s definitely worth coming here if you want to get acquainted with atypical Turkey.
How to get and where to stop
A ticket from Moscow to Istanbul costs about 25,000 rubles* per person by one. You can get to Chanakkale in several ways. For example, by bus: Metro (Metroturizm) and Pamukkale are considered the most comfortable for travel. The ticket can be purchased online on companies or at the bus station. However, we advise you to rent a car, the price per day starts from 1,500 rubles*. This is the most convenient way to overcome the distance between the cities. The road will take about 5 hours.
A few suitable hotel options:
Avec Hotel – from 5000 rubles* per night per person;
Kolin Hotel – from 4800 rubles* per night per person;
Buyuk Truva Hotel – from 3700 rubles* per night per person.
What to do in Chanakkal
In this city, you must definitely get lost in the labyrinth of the streets of the Old City and buy a bizarre jug in one of the shops. Go to the next island to visit the cult fortress, and in the evening return to the rock concert of local musicians. Try the hearty Turkish breakfast and begin to study the remnants of the ancient Troy, immortalized by Homer in his epic poem “Iliad”.
Arrange a tour in the world of ceramics
Chanakkale has long been famous for its masters: in the XVII and XVIII centuries, clay products decorated with flowers and geometric patterns, later jugs, vases, pastry bowls and gas lamps in the form of ships or animals became popular. Among ceramic products that have survived to this day, you can find jugs with handles, braided snakes, and vessels with horses heads.
In the city, the traditions of the ancestors are honored, so at the central streets there are almost every step with ceramics shops. If you are a fan of unique ceramic dishes, we recommend that you take a separate bag for souvenirs on a trip – you will want to buy everything. And if you try, you can get to the master class on the artist-ceramist. A do -it -yourself product in the company of local craftsmen can become one of the vivid impressions of the trip.
It is better to find such workshops by accident, while walking along narrow, winding streets. Often there are not even shops on the map, since it is a small family business or a completely art master of some kind of unknown artist. Of the trusted, we recommend visiting the following.
Kepenek Keramik
Place with history – the store has been working since 1996. Here you will find a strong terracotta dish, decorated with bright and colorful glaze, as well as small figurines that can be a great gift. Pay attention to the Trojan horses with wheels.
Tulû Seramik
From here you will want to take a coffee or tea couple with you. In stock of both classic options and unusual finds like a mug of a lemon or a cup-tykva.
Ceramic by Elif
This ceramic studio will like aesthetics lovers – a stylish minimalistic design, a lot of light and a large table at which magic occurs. Pay attention to unusual pots for plants and vases for flowers.
Çanakale seramik müzesi
We offer to complete the tour by visiting the museum. Now there is a ceramic made in ancient times and the works of modern masters. Exhibitions and art conferences are regularly held here, and also conduct master classes on the manufacture of clay products.
An interesting fact: before the museum was a bathhouse. This explains some features of the interior. The entrance is free.
Go to the fishing harbor kilitbakhir
It is great to sit on the ship and literally in 15 minutes to find yourself on the Gallipoli Peninsula, where you can not only contact the history, but also arrange a picnic in nature, as the locals do. We recommend visiting the village of Kilitbakhir, which is famous for the same fortress. This masterpiece of Ottoman architecture was erected at the direction of Sultan Mehmet II Fatikha 10 years after the capture of Constantinople to protect the strait. The fortress is built in the form of a geometrically even triliary. You can get inside from 9:00 to 16:00 on any day, except Monday, and also this is a great location for walking and sightseeing photos. Do not forget to make a couple of frames of satisfied cats in memory, guarding their dinner with fishermen on the pier.
Spend time in one of the cafe on the embankment
It’s good that a trip where they are deliciously fed. A hearty breakfast, a delicious snack and a cafe with a beautiful look – the necessary minimum for a tourist to reboot and gain strength for new impressions.
Muhitt
Go to the northern part of the embankment to visit this relaxed and stylish cafe, where they offer excellent breakfasts throughout the day. You can assemble your own set from individual menu items or choose a dish with a fixed price – and enjoy the abundance of fresh cheeses, jams, olives and other proposed goodies. Lay at least an hour on a leisurely feast.
Voranda Coffee Company
Favorite coffee shop of local hipsters: here are served by copyright lemonades, latte with sweet syrups, filter coffee, pumpkin cheesecake. It is especially pleasant to drink a cup of a warming drink at sunset: the cafe is only a couple of tens of meters from the bay, and this is a special pleasure to see the evening sun, staining the embankment in soft golden tones.
Babalık Tekin Peynir Helvacisi
Confectionery, where you can get sweets to eat during a walk. The branded dish is a Helvasi Peinir, or a dessert of flour or semolina, oil and sugar. Try it with a ball of vanilla ice cream as a snack in the middle of the day.
Walk in Historical National Park in Helibola
Archaeological monuments are located on its territory, some of which date back 4000 BC. In addition to memorials, burials and sculptures, pay attention to amazing natural beauties – the hills of Aryburn and Lake Tuzla. Green hills, sandy beaches and blue water are a place where you can reflect on the eternal and enjoy silence.
Go to a concert in one of the local bars
There is no better way to figure out what young people live than to listen to their songs. Rock in the Turkish performance will definitely surprise you.
Barduck çanakkale
A cult place where young groups play. The bar is located in a living room, so, being inside, you may have the impression that you went to visit friends and suddenly got to the party. A small scene, a cocktail bar, several rooms with graffiti on the walls and a balcony, where the most violent discussions of the work of artists happen. It is comfortable and easy to feel like your own.
Çanakale hayal kahvesi
From time to time in this old building near the clock tower, the rock band concerts perform. Outside is constantly updated by posters, so you can first search and choose a phavarit group that you want to listen to live. Or maybe even learn words so that there is an opportunity to sing along.
Jokers Bar Canakkale
Concerts begin around 20:00 every Friday and Saturday. This is a constantly changing scene, so there is always a diverse repertoire that will like music lovers. There are many other pubs, cafes and restaurants on nearby streets, so on a trip to bars, it may be worth laying down the whole night.
Visit mythical Troy
A trip that should enter your to-do list of this trip. The ancient city is a 30 -minute drive from Chanakkale, and it is easy to get there on one of the public buses that go to the destination every hour.
Take a walk among excavations with ruins, remember the love story of Paris and Elena, feel how legends come to life in this place. Visit the Modern Museum of Troy, where about 2,000 artifacts found in Troy and Trada are exhibited. Especially interesting are ancient sculptures, sarcophagi, metal dishes, gold products, coins.
We recommend that you study the halls of the “archaeological zone of the Trada”, “Bronze Age of Troy”, “The Legend of the Iliad and the Battle of Three”, “Troda and Ilion in Antiquity”, “Eastern Roman Empire and the Ottoman period”, “History of archeology” and “Traces of Troy”.
Near the entrance there is a store where you can buy souvenirs or postcards in memory of the lands sung by the Homer. Let them become your personal evidence of the existence of great civilization. Or just a great gift for family and friends.
*Prices are valid at the time of publication.
