At long last, Turkish researchers have pinpointed the precise site of the Battle of Granicus, where Alexander the Great achieved his first monumental victory on the road to becoming history’s greatest military mind.

Alexander the Great was crowned king of Macedon in October 336 B.C.E.. Over the following decade, he conquered an unparalleled territory that grew to span from Greece to northwestern India. In the millennia since, experts have grasped at literal scraps just to get a taste of Alexander the Great’s actual lived experience.

Now, ancient Greek aficionados can gaze at the very scenery that Alexander himself encountered amidst the Battle of Granicus.

The 90,000-man clash happened in May 334 B.C.E. near the Granicus River, now known as Biga Stream, which runs through northwestern Turkey—formerly home to the Troy. Even though he was outnumbered, Alexander managed to achieve his first of three triumphs here over the imposing Achaemenid Persian Empire, clearing the way for eastward Hellenization.

Reyan Körpe at the site of the Battle of Granicus. Photo: Reyhan Körpe.

“Alexander personally led his cavalry and was saved by his close bodyguard during the fighting,” lead researcher Reyhan Körpe noted in a statement provided over email. “The Battle of Granicus was not only one of the most significant turning points in Alexander’s life, later earning him the epithet ‘the Great,’ but also a pivotal moment in world history.”

Körpe has been digging throughout the Troad region since 1990. Three years ago, he got permits from the Turkish government to finally locate the Granicus battlefield, which has evaded historians for 150 years.

Alexander the Great’s one-time view of the Battle of Granicus. Photo: Reyhan Körpe.

Earlier scholars believed the battle transpired on the lowlands north of Çınarköprü village. Using geomorphological analyses, Körpe and his team determined that this proposed site had been a marsh in antiquity, unsuitable for battle. Further east, however, they noticed a hill which matched accounts of the perch that Persian Greek mercenaries purportedly assumed during the fighting.

“Local farmers reported finding graves with weapons on this hill, consistent with ancient accounts that Alexander buried fallen Macedonian soldiers with their weapons,” Körpe pointed out. An unmarked grave bearing the bones of an adult male even turned up here this past year.

The Greek mercenaries’ view of the Battle of Granicus. Photo: Reyhan Körpe.

After concluding that the Battle of Granicus took place further south than previously believed, Körpe’s team paired fieldwork with close reads of historical accounts to map Alexander’s route towards the fight. Two of the cities on that path cited by historians including Arrian, Plutarch, and Diodorus have turned up over recent years. Körpe’s squad located the third, Hermaion, this year. Now they know that Alexander traveled through Ozbek village, Umurbey, and Lapseki before reaching the Biga Plain.

The Battle of Granicus is the best-preserved site fought upon by Alexander the Great. (By contrast, a city now sits atop the site of 333 B.C.E.’s Battle of Issus, where Alexander defeated Persia’s king.)

As such, Turkey’s Ministry of Tourism and Culture is transforming the Granicus battlefield into a protected stop along a burgeoning Alexander the Great Cultural Route. Körpe will continue conducting research here, too, to learn more about how the landscape has changed, its role in the battle, and the area’s other military heritage.