Wender·Vista
Troy
shown on ceramic, 12-inch tileTurkey
above the Dardanelles, in northwest Turkey

Troy

— — nine cities, one mound, the same wind.

— Where it lives

Not only on a wall.

A small tile on the nightstand catching the morning. A larger one above the fire. Yours, wherever you spend the slow hours.
— On the nightstand, a 6-inch on a walnut stand
— Among the books, a 6-inch leaning into the spines
— Beside the kettle, a 12-inch propped
— Down a quiet hall, an 18-inch floating off the wall
— Above the fire, the 24-inch in a walnut surround
— a note from the studio

“A low mound called Hisarlık on the windswept plain above the Dardanelles, where nine cities rose and fell across more than three thousand years. Stone foundations, a wooden horse rebuilt for the visitors, the sea a pale grey line to the west. The studio knows Troy by the way Homer's wind still moves the grass across the old bouleuterion stones.

from the studio
Troy
— bring it home

Troy, on ceramic.

Each tile is finished by hand in our Knoxville studio. Artwork is slowly infused into the ceramic surface under high heat and pressure, and rests beneath a thin glossy finish. The colour lives in the surface, not on top of it.

What kind of piece?
One tile — square or rectangle.
How big?
the popular one — counter, shelf, nightstand
6 × 6 in · 15 cm · 1.6 lb
Surface finish
A clear glossy finish — the artwork reads as if under resin. Ideal for show-pieces and framed wall art.
How it sits
A hidden cleat — sits ¼″ proud of the wall.
$58
Hand-finished and shipped from our studio at the foot of the Smokies. On your wall in about ten days.
— size
6 × 6 in
15 cm
— weighs
1.6 lb
solid in the hand
— surface
ceramic, hand-finished
art rests beneath a thin glossy finish
— from
Knoxville, TN
our family studio, at the foot of the Smokies
— start a Coaster Set

Pick any four 4-inch tiles — National Parks you've been to, a Smokies set, the four seasons of one place. $ for a set of , cork-backed, ready to live on the table.

— about Troy

The place, in three passes.

A little of what's known, in case you fall down the rabbit hole — or want to go see it yourself.
— the place

Troy is an archaeological site at the mound of Hisarlık in Çanakkale Province, northwest Turkey, about 30 kilometres south of the Dardanelles strait and roughly 320 kilometres southwest of Istanbul. The site contains the remains of at least nine successive cities built between roughly 3000 BC and AD 500, designated Troy I through Troy IX. UNESCO inscribed Troy as a World Heritage Site in 1998, citing the depth of its stratigraphy and its central place in world literature through Homer's Iliad and the related cycle of poems.

— the stone

The visible stone runs through every period. The massive limestone walls of Troy VI, dated to roughly 1700 to 1300 BC, still stand four to five metres high in places, with the characteristic slight inward slope of late Bronze Age fortification. Heinrich Schliemann began excavating the mound in 1870 and cut a deep trench through several layers in his search for Homeric Troy. The German archaeologist Manfred Korfmann led modern excavations from 1988 until his death in 2005, refining the dating of Troy VI and VII.

— the visit

Spring and autumn are the most comfortable months on the plain, with daytime highs in the high teens to low twenties Celsius and clear light across the Scamander valley. Summer brings heat above 30°C and the long northeasterly wind the locals call meltemi; winter is mild but wet, with January averages near 6°C. The site stays open in every season, and the Troy Museum, opened in 2018 about three kilometres east of the mound, holds the artefacts that used to scatter across European collections.

— where
Turkey · Tevfikiye, Çanakkale
— within
Troy Historical National Park
— elevation
30 m · 98 ft
— position
39.9576° N · 26.2389° E
— the neighborhood

What's nearby.

A handful of named places within an hour's walk or short drive. Some we've already painted; some we will.
3 km E
Troy Museum
archaeological museum
30 km N
Çanakkale
Dardanelles port city
8 km W
Dardanelles
strait between Aegean and Marmara
N
Troy
Troy Museum
Çanakkale
Dardanelles
— common questions

What people ask.

A few questions we get about Troy — and about bringing the piece home.
— about the place

Troy is at the mound of Hisarlık in Çanakkale Province, northwest Turkey, about 30 kilometres south of the Dardanelles strait and roughly 320 kilometres southwest of Istanbul.

Yes. The mound at Hisarlık holds the remains of at least nine successive cities built between roughly 3000 BC and AD 500. Most scholars identify Troy VI or VIIa with the Troy of Homer's Iliad.

Heinrich Schliemann began excavating Hisarlık in 1870, working from earlier identifications by Frank Calvert. Modern excavation under Manfred Korfmann ran from 1988 to 2005 and refined the dating of the Bronze Age layers.

Yes. UNESCO inscribed Troy on the World Heritage List in 1998 for its archaeological stratigraphy spanning more than three millennia and its central place in world literature through the Iliad.

The Troy Museum opened in 2018 about three kilometres east of the archaeological site. It holds Bronze Age, classical, and Hellenistic artefacts from Hisarlık and won the European Museum of the Year award in 2020.

— about the piece in your home

It has been a meaningful gift for readers of the Iliad and travellers who have walked the mound. The piece reads as the Troy of stone walls, wind, and the long view to the sea. A Small or Medium carries well.

The bronze, ochre, and grey-blue tones suit warm-traditional, library-modern, and Mediterranean-modern rooms. It also reads well against walnut shelving, plaster walls, and aged brass.

A single Large reads cleanly above most consoles. Above a full sofa, a four-tile Mural carries the wall; a nine-tile Mural is the right scale for a long sectional or an open dining wall.

Yes, with the Dura Satin or Matte finish. Both are scratch-resistant and tolerate the humidity of bathrooms and the splash of kitchens. Glossy is reserved for framed wall pieces away from steam and grease.

A microfibre cloth with plain water is enough. Avoid abrasive sponges, ammonia, and citrus cleaners. The colour lives in the ceramic surface and will not lift with normal cleaning over the life of the piece.

Yes. Every WenderVista piece is original to our studio in Knoxville, Tennessee. There is no licensing and no third-party catalogue; the eye behind every place is Reid Wender's.

— if this one stayed with you

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