Troas

Troy (Troas) is located at the northwestern tip of modern-day Turkey, at the mouth of the Dardanelles, facing the small island of Tenedos. It was expanded by Antigonus, one of the successors of Alexander the Great, around 300 BC. Its full name was Alexandria Troas, but it was generally referred to simply as Troas. It was a typical Greek city that controlled the choke point for access from the Black Sea to the Mediterranean. It was also the landing point for the Roman military road, the Via Egnatia, which crossed the sea from Macedonia to Asia, with regular ships sailing between Europe and Asia. This made it a strategically important military and commercial hub. The city was about 100 kilometers from Samothrace, 210 kilometers from Philippi, and about 30 kilometers north of Assos. The legendary city of Troy from Homer’s epics is about 34 kilometers to its north, at the ruins now called Ilium.

Biblical records:

“Paul and Silas…passed through Phrygia and the region of Galatia, having been forbidden by the Holy Spirit to speak the word in Asia. And when they had come up to Mysia, they attempted to go into Bithynia, but the Spirit of Jesus did not allow them. So, passing by Mysia, they went down to Troas.” (Acts 16:6-8)

“These men went on ahead and waited for us at Troas. But we sailed from Philippi after the days of Unleavened Bread, and in five days we came to them at Troas, where we stayed for seven days.” (Acts 20:5-6)

“When I came to Troas to preach the gospel of Christ, even though a door was opened for me in the Lord, my spirit was not at rest because I did not find my brother Titus there. So I took leave of them and went on to Macedonia.” (2 Corinthians 2:12-13)