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Somewhere in the Sierra Sur mountains of Seville, in a town most people have never heard of, a group of volunteers is putting the finishing touches to something rather extraordinary. A full-scale replica of the Trojan Horse, six metres tall, built from wood on an iron frame and large enough to fit 14 people inside.

 

The project comes from Gilena, a town of fewer than 4,000 inhabitants that has quietly built one of the most inventive museum collections in Spain.

 

Last year the same team constructed a replica of an Etruscan ship from the 6th century BC to recreate the Battle of Alalia for its annual Castra Legionis event, a September gathering that draws history enthusiasts from across the country. This year, with Homer and The Odyssey as the theme, the natural next step was obvious. Build the horse.

 

The challenge, as archaeologist Manuel Jesús Díaz explains, is that nobody really knows what it looked like. "In Homer's work, the Horse is only mentioned in passing, and in fact the original text in which the fall of Troy is narrated has been lost," he says.

 

The team worked from what evidence existed, taking as their reference point the geometric Greek style of around the 8th century BC, when the Homeric poems are believed to have been composed, and drawing on a series of ancient bronze horse figurines for guidance. For everything else, a degree of educated imagination was required.

 

Volunteer Ramón Rico produced the initial designs and printed a 3D model as the first real sketch. From there, the full structure took shape in the museum courtyard, with the whole team contributing according to their individual skills. "This is impossible for one person alone," says Díaz. "Each according to their skills and possibilities." The finished horse weighs over a ton.

 

Capacity tests have confirmed it holds around 14 people, which is close to what historians believe the original could have accommodated, enough warriors to slip inside Troy and open the gates from within. Though as Díaz notes with a smile, seeing it in person makes one thing very clear: "It wouldn't be very comfortable to spend a night there waiting for the Trojans to fall asleep."

 

Visitors to the September events will be able to find that out for themselves.

 

 

Image: Colección Museográfica be Gilena/Facebook