Turkey displays Troy treasures in time for film

“There has been intense interest of late. Undoubtedly, this film has helped increase the interest quite a bit,” he said.

The $200 million “Troy”, which opens worldwide on Friday, is adapted from Homer’s “The Iliad” and chronicles the legendary conflict between Greeks and Trojans over the abduction of Helen. Pitt plays the Greek hero Achilles.

Despite Turkey’s wealth of archaeological and historical sites, its museums suffer from a lack of personnel and funding.

One of the country’s finest, the Istanbul Archaeology Museum was founded in the late 19th century and houses Greek, Roman, Byzantine and other ancient artefacts.

Experts say many Trojan treasures are housed in European museums after archaeologists in the 19th-century excavated and removed artefacts from Turkey.