Walking Central Çanakkale: The Kordon, Clock Tower, Trojan Horse and Aynalı Çarşı

Unlike sprawling provincial capitals, historic downtown Çanakkale is completely flat, compact and built for walking along the water. Everything between the Ferry Pier (İskele), the old bazaars of Kemalpaşa Mahallesi and the northern yacht marina can be covered in an unhurried two-hour stroll.

1. The 1897 Clock Tower, Ferry Plaza and the Kordon Promenade

Begin at the historic square directly opposite the GESTAŞ ferry terminal, anchored by the 20-metre, five-storey Çanakkale Clock Tower (Saat Kulesi), built in 1897 from dark-brown Ayvalık volcanic stone financed by a bequest from Italian consul and merchant Emilio Vitalis. Surrounding the tower are pedestrian alleys packed with historic peynir helvası sweet shops, fish restaurants and bookstores.

Turn north along the water onto the Kordon (Kayserili Ahmet Paşa Caddesi), Çanakkale's beloved 1.5-kilometre seafront promenade. Two hundred metres north of the pier beside the old customs pier stands the 12-metre-tall, 11-tonne Wooden Trojan Horse (Truva Atı): built of steel and fibreglass-moulded wood for Wolfgang Petersen's 2004 Hollywood epic Troy (starring Brad Pitt) and gifted to the city of Çanakkale after filming wrapped, it has become the city's favorite sunset meeting spot across from the historic 1920s Yalı Hanı (a preserved two-storey courtyard caravanserai where you can drink tea under the trees).

2. Aynalı Çarşı (The "Hall of Mirrors" Bazaar, 1890) and Fetch Lanes

Walk two blocks inland from the Clock Tower along Çarşı Caddesi to the arched stone portal of Aynalı Çarşı. Built in 1890 by prominent member of the local Jewish community İlya Halyo (as recorded in the Ottoman Turkish and Hebrew inscription carved over the entrance gate) and restored after being damaged during the 1915 naval bombardment, this vaulted brick-and-stone arcade was immortalised across Turkey in the famous 1915 folk ballad Çanakkale Türküsü ("Çanakkale içinde Aynalı Çarşı."). Large antique mirrors flank the interior passage, where forty small shops sell traditional red-and-green glazed Çanakkale ceramics, miniature Trojan horses and textiles.

3. The Çanakkale Ceramic Museum (Inside the 1904 Erhamam) & Yalı Mosque

Five minutes further through the rainbow-umbrella-shaded lanes of the bazaar stands a domed 1904 bathhouse converted into the Çanakkale Ceramic Museum (Seramik Müzesi, Free Admission), explaining why Europeans called the city Chanak for centuries through displays of whimsical 18th- and 19th-century horse-headed jugs and sailing-ship plates.