Hisarlik, Turkey

Abandoned circa 1180 BC

Well, I guess there’s always Troy.  Ann L. 

Also requested by Michael S.

The city of Troy was located in what is modern-day Turkey, on the hill of Hisarlik. The city was destroyed at the end of the Bronze Age and was abandoned or nearly abandoned during the subsequent Dark Ages, possibly as the result of earthquake damage. Its fame results from its inclusion in Homer’s Iliad and other works of Greek and Roman literature. According to Homer, the city fell after the besieging Greeks tricked the Trojans into admitting soldiers inside a wooden horse. Until the Scottish journalist Charles Mclaren identified Hisarlik as the likely site of Troy and the subsequent excavations by German businessman Heinrich Schliemann, the city was thought to be mythological. The painting is based on an uncredited contemporary reconstruction.