Mausoleum of Ataturk
Underground
City in Cappadocia
The Church of St. Peter in Antioch
The
Church of St. Paul in Tarsus
St.
Paul's well
Whirling
Dervishes
Psidian Antioch (Yalvac)
Perge Ancient city
Side Ancient city
Manavgat
waterfalls
Hierapolis Ancient city
Basilica
of St. John "The Evangelist"
Library
of Celcius in Ephesus
The
Theater in Ephesus
Inside
picture of House Virgin Mary
Remains of the church of Philadelphia
Sardes ancient
city
One
of the 7 churches of Revelation:
Pergamum
The Steps of St. Paul and The Living Past
The missionary journeys of St. Paul, the first Christian communities, Ecumenical councils and ancient civilizations. We will see and experience the cultural richness of Turkey and how the spread of Christianity began, how Christianity became the religion of the state from an illegal sect in East Roman (Byzantine) Empire.
Day
1 Istanbul Arrival
Arrival
at Istanbul Ataturk Airport. You will be met and transferred to your hotel.
After check in, free time. Dinner and Overnight. (D)
Day 2 Istanbul Full Day City Tour
Following the breakfast we drive to Spice
Bazaar (Egyptian Bazaar) where you can smell of different aromas of various spices.
Then we will get in the ferry to have Bosphorus Cruise, through
the waterway separating the two continents, Asia and Europe, with a possibility to
take photographs of marble palaces, ancient wooden villas of Ottoman architecture besides modern residentials and luxurious apartments.After
lunch in a seafood restaurant, we will drive Chora Church Museum
(The Church of Holy Savior) to see breathtaking frescoes
and mosaics from 14th century. The church is
a remarkable example
of Byzantine art. Dinner
and overnight. (B,L,D)
Day 3 Istanbul
- Ankara - Cappadocia
We
will take the early flight to Ankara, The Capital of Republicof Turkey. We will
visit Ataturk's Mausoleum, founder of theRepublic of Turkey.
Further
on we will drive and come to Cappadocia and seefascinating commonly
called "Fairy Chimneys" that are jutting pieces
of volcanic rocksthat
have been
beatenand
shaped by the wind
and rain. The Fairy Chimneys of Cappadocia are
a striking example of how geography and human habitation have worked
together,
and how geography has influenced people’s imaginations. A fascinating
place.
Dinner at hotel and overnight. (B,L,D)
Day 4 Cappadocia – Goreme
Valley – Avanos Village – Uchisar Fortress
Right
after breakfast, we will drive to Town of Goreme and then we will visit
The Goreme open air museum.
The
Goreme Open – Air Museum, a monastic
complex of rock churches and
chapels covered
with frescoes, is one of the best-known sites in central Turkey.
Most of the chapels date from the 10th to the 13th centuries.
After
having a pottery exhibition in Avanos village we will drive to Uchisar,
which is one of
the most
beautiful valleys in Cappadocia Area.
For
those who climb the steps to the top of the Uchisar
Fortress the whole region unfolds below. Dinner
at hotel and overnight. (B,L,D)
Day 5 Cappadocia – Derinkuyu
Underground City - Adana
After breakfast
we will visit Derinkuyu Underground City. The Underground city of
Derinkuyu near Nevsehir was used as an early Christian center, housed
several
thousand Christians hiding from their Roman and Byzantine persecutors
in the
7th and 8th centuries.
They
extend downward in the earth for at least 8 floors in a maze of tunnels, rooms, kitchens, wine cellars, stables, sleeping chambers and passageways. A huge chimney ventilates this 8-levelled dwelling and rooms and were
easily defended by
blocking the entrance with large rocks. Today it is very well lit.
So
far 36 underground cities are known in Cappadocia area. We
will keep driving
and reach Adana. Dinner at hotel and overnight. (B,L,D)
Day 6 Antioch (Antakya) - Daphne - Seleucia Pierias
After
breakfast we will see Antioch, Biblical “Antioch on the Orontes”, Daphne
and Seleucia Pieria.
In
Antioch, first to preach here was St. Peter followed by St. Paul and
Barnabas
whose extensive efforts
proved
to be very fruitful for Christianity. St. Peter was
the first to establish a church inAntioch; this beliefis based on the
references
in Acts 9:32 and in Galatians
2:11. Incidentally, the word Christians wasfirst
coined in Antioch. 'It was in
Antioch that the disciples
were first called
Christians".
(Acts 11:26). Antioch
served as the home base for St. Peter, St. Paul and
Barnabas; shortly it became the third most important bishopric
( after Jerusalem
and Rome ) in the developing
church.
When the Emperor Julian the Apostate wanted to
worship here
in AD 363 he found
that Daphne was the Antiochene Christian cemetery.
Then
we will go to to Seleucia Pieria that is mentioned in the New
Testament only
as the port from which St. Paul and Barnabas set sail for Cyprus on
their first
missionary journey. (Acts 13:4) Highlights include the museum which houses a
superb collection of mosaics from Antioch, Daphne and Seleucia
Pieria and St. Peter's Grotto, the first Christian church where early Christians
of Antioch met in secretly. Dinner at hotel and overnight. (B,L,D)
Day 7 Antioch (Antakya) – Tarsus – Derbe - Iconium (Konya)
We
will drive straight to Tarsus, the birth place of St. Paul. St.Paul
was born a Jew of the tribe of Benjamin in Tarsus about AD 10 and spent his early
years here. His father was a Roman citizen; St. Paul inherited that citizenship
and its rights.
(Acts 21:39 ) Then he was sent to
Jerusalem to study. During
St. Paul's time Tarsus was a university city surpassing
Athens and Alexandria
and the romantic meeting between Cleopatra and Mark Anthony took place in Tarsus. Highlights here will be The Church of St. Paul, St. Paul's well and Cleopatra's Gate. Numerous people believe that the water from St. Paul’s well has healing properties.
Then
we will drive to Biblical Derbe. St. Paul and Barnabas went from Lystra
to Derbe after St.Paul had recovered from being stoned. St. Paul and Barnabas
both spoke to people in Derbe and many people became Christian (Acts 14:21);
their ties with the people there continued strong enough that St. Paul returned
a year or so later. Then we will drive to to Iconium (Konya). Dinner at hotel and overnight. (B,L,D)
Day 8 Konya – Lystra - Psidian Antioch ( Yalvac) - Antalya
After
a short visit of Konya known as the city of whirling
dervishes, we willdrive
to
Lystra. When St. Paul and Barnabas
reached Lystra a miraclehappened.
St. Paul
noticed in the group
gatheredto
listen him a lameman
whose bearing impressed
him.Some
extraordinary strength passed fromSt. Paul to the
man who thereupon
was cured. The miraclecaused a commotion
in the crowd thatthe strangers had
supernatural powers,
that they were gods. St.Pauland Barnabas acted
promptly by
denying
the identification, stating their Christian
beliefs. The crowd became
a mob, stoning St.Paul. He was saved only
by his friends forming a circle around him.
(Acts 14:8-20)
When St. Paul was in Lystra on his second missionary journey (Acts 16:1-3)
he met a
young disciple
named Timothy. Timothy
was well regarded by the church in Lystra and
became a close friend
of St. Paul.
Then we
will carry
on to
Psidian Antioch
(Yalvac) where St. Paul and Barnabas
visited on their first missionary journey.
During St. Paul's time
the population
was
a mixture of Jews,
Romans and
Greeks.
On his first missionary journey St. Paul went to the synagogue on the
Sabbath
(the Jewish day of worship), and St. Paul was asked to speak to
the congregation.
In the Bible this is St.
Paul’s first recorded sermon.
What
St. Paul said about Christianity so interested his listeners that he
had an
overflow audience the next week. The members of the synagogue took violent
exception to what St.Paul was doing (Acts 13:14-52).
Very little is left of Psidian Antioch today. There is the propylaea
of the acropolis with
a number of carved stones and the remains of a Byzantine church. We
pass by
Egirdir Lake
and arrive in Antalya
for dinner
and overnight. (B,L,D)
Day 9
Perge–Side–Manavgat Waterfalls- Antalya
Half Day City Tour
Ruins
of Perge are 18 kms to the northeast of
Antalya. Perge is one of the cities
that St.Paul visited with Barnabas and his cousin John Mark on their
first missionary
journey in about AD 47 or 48 ( Acts 13:13, 14:25 ). It was Perge
that John Mark left
the others to return Jerusalem.
John Mark did not accompany St. Paul on the second missionary journey;
instead
he and Barnabas went together to Cyprus while St.Paul went
with Silas into Anatolia
(Acts 15:63-41 ).
Perhaps St. Paul and John Mark were reconciled later for St.Paul includes
greetings
from a Mark to Philemon ( Philem. 24 ). Highlights are, the Gymnasium,
the Bath,
the Agora, the Theater, the Stadium and the Hellenistic Gate
After
we finish our visit in Perge, we will continuo to Side. Side
was an important
port on the Mediterranean
from the time
it was founded about the 6th century BC
until the 7th century.
Roman engineers
brought Side’s water through tunnels
and
an aqueduct from about 30 km inland. Today's Side is built exactly on
top of the
ancient city.
We
will have lunch and see Manavgat waterfalls. Then we will drive
back to
Antalya. Antalya located
in the region called Pamphylia, was founded by Attalus II,
King of Pergamum in the 2nd century BC. St. Paul sailed from Antalya
about AD
48 on his return to Antioch after his first missionary journey.
Dinner and overnight in Antalya. (B,L,D)
Day
10 Antalya – Laodicea Ad Lycum – Hierapolis - Pamukkale
After
breakfast we
leave our hotel and drive to Hierapolis but before we get here we
stop at Laodicea
Ad Lycum.
The site of one of the Seven
Churches addressed
by St.John in the Book
of Revelation (Rev. 3:14-22), Laodicea
is on
a low hill on
the south bank of the
Lycus River (Curuksu).
As a commercial center,
it had a
large
Jewish
community. For St.John
in Revelation, the
Christians of Laodicea
were
neither hot nor cold
and because of
their indifference
he wanted to spew
them out
of
his mouth.
“ I know all your ways,
you are neither hot
or cold. How I wish you
were either hot or cold. Because
you are lukewarm,
neither hot nor cold, I will spit
you out of my mouth” (
Revelation 3:15-17 )
St.John promised in “the words of the Amen” (Revelation 3:14) that for
those who
were sensitive enough to hear and respond to what was being said, the Spirit would
join them in the
great feast. “Here I stand knocking
at the door; if anyone hears my
voice and opens the door, I will come in and sit down
to supper with him and he with
me“ (Revelation 3:20)
Then
we will drive to Pamukkale
(The Cotten Castle of white travertine terraces),
and Hierapolis ancient
city where St. Philip was martyred.
Recently Italian archeologists have discovered his Martyrium,
an octagonal chamber
forming a double cross surrounded by a square. St. Philip lived here
after the
Apostles scattered from Jerusalem.
Hierapolis is listed in the New Testament along with
Laodicea as the center of
Epaphras’s work (Colossians 4:13). Dinner and overnight at Pamukkale. (B,L,D)
Day 11 Pamukkale – Aphrodisias
– Miletus - Kusadasi
Drive
to the archeological site of Aphrodisias, the Greco-Roman city dedicated to
the goddess Aphrodite. Then continue to Miletus. As a most important city in on
the Aegean coast, by the
5th century Miletus had developed a system of writing
that the people of Athens adopted. This then became the standard Greek Alphabet.
It
was the birthplace of several philosophers, among them Thales ( who predicted
the eclipse of the sun in 585 BC ), Hippodamus (who organized towns on a grid of
crossing streets), and Anaximander ( who invented the sun dial ).
St.Paul visited Miletus in the spring AD
57 as he completed his
third journey. (Acts 20:15-38 ). For
St. Paul and for his listeners, many
of whom had come from
Ephesus,
it was an emotional visit. Here
he said ”for myself
I set no story
by life, I
only want to finish the
race and complete the task which
the Lord assigned to me".
St.Paul was in a hurry to get to Jerusalem
before Pentecost.
Two stone
lions that
guarded the entrance
to the harbor had been in place
for over 2 hundred
years when
St.Paul took leave of his friends and boarded
his ship. The harbor
is gone, but the
lions are there today. After visit, continue to Kusadasi for overnight. (B,L,D)
Day 12 Kusadasi–Basilica
of St. John-Ephesus-House of Virgin Mary
This
morning we will stop by the Basilica of St. John "The
Evangelist" who came
here with Virgin
Mary andwrote
his Gospel in Ephesus. Then we will carry on to Ephesus ancient city.People visiting Ephesus today can visualize the city when it
was the capital of theprovince.
St.Paul preached and taught in Ephesus for over 2 years. During
that time he sent Timothy and Erastus toMacedonia
to continue the missionary work there. The names of several other earlyChristians
are recorded asresidents
of Ephesus.
Among them are the eloquent Apollos withwhom
St. Paul associated himself,
saying that
he planted, that Apollos watered, but that God gave
the growth
(I Cor.3:6 )
A couple, Priscilla and
Aquilla, established a house church in Ephesus
( I Cor. 16:19 ). The daughters of the
Apostle Philip lived in Ephesus. A small
stone building high up on the west corner
of the city wall is pointed out as
St. Paul’s Prison. He wrote the letter to the Ephesians from
this place.
In
Ephesus highlights include Double
Church where
in 431 the Third Ecumenical
Council was held, the Library of Celcius, the Temple of Hadrian, the Fountain of
Trajan and the Theater for many Christians the
best-known building in Ephesus
where a 1st century AD silversmith attempted to stir up a riot
to get rid of St. Paul
who was damaging his business
of making images of
Artemis.
About
3 miles away in the forested mountain above Ephesus is House of Virgin
Mary. Today it is visited by pilgrims
from all over the world. It is a modest stone
house. St John brought Virgin Mary to
Ephesus in keeping with Jesus’s
admonition to him to
care for his mother.
(John 19:27)
House
of Virgin Mary, is now visited by over a hundred thousand pilgrims each
year. The pilgrims come
to drink the waters of the sacred spring, to mediate, to
pray for health, and to breathe the atmosphere
of if. You
will be able to collect
some holly water from the Sacred Spring. Both
Pope Paul VI in 1967 and Pope
John Paul II in 1979 have celebrated mass
here.
Many people
congregate at this
sanctuary every August 15 to observe the Feast
of the Assumption of
the Virgin.
It was first
identified in 1818 by an Austrian peasant Anne Catherine Emmerich, who
saw it in adream exactly as it
was found. The setting is beautifully peaceful,encouring
reverence andcontemplation. Dinner
and overnight in Kusadasi. (B,L,D)
Day 13 Philadelphia – Sardis
– Izmir (Smyrna)
After breakfast departure
from hotel and drive to Philadelphia.During
Byzantine
times Philadelphia was the seat of a Christian bishopric.
Its significance in Christian
history was because
it congregations addressed by St.John in
the Book of
Revelation (Rev. 3:7-13). Although one
of the Seven Churches, Philadelphia was the
least distinguished; it was the only one about which
St. John had no real criticism.
He characterized
it as having been given an open door.
He told the Christians not to
leave anyone take
away their crowns and promised that those who
were victorious
would become pillars in God’s temple. “Hold
fast to what you have, and let no one
rob
you of your crown” (Revelation 3:11).
Then
we will drive
to Sardis, whose history
dates back
to 12th century BC, was the
capital of the ancient
Kingdom of Lydia. In
the book of Revelation (Rev.
3:1-6), St.John
stated that
Sardis needed to wake
up. He
complained that their
acts did not live up
to
their reputation,
that they did not finish what they started.
But he held out the hope
those who were not
polluted that they should have
robes of white (Revelation
3:5). White
was the color then
of righteousness
and immortality.
Then
we will drive to Izmir ( Smyrna ) which was one of the Seven Church
in
St.John’s Book of Revelation
( Rev. 2:8-11 ) as the place of the synagogue
of
Satan. St. John tells the Christians that they are about to suffer for
their faith, but
also says that those who are faithful unto death will gain a crown of
life.
Dinner and overnight in Izmir. (B,L,D)
Day 14 Izmir - Thyateria
– Pergamum - Ayvalik
After breakfast we will drive to Thyatira which is a small
modern city today.
The old Thyatira, the site of one of the Seven Churches of Asia Minor.
(Rev. 2:18-29). St. John’s criticism of Thyatira in Revelation was related
to the
prophetess Jezebel. Whether she was a real woman of that name
or whether
he intended her as a symbol of licentiousness, St. John saw the challenge
to
Christianity which Thyatira represented as a moral decay among the members.
To those who refused to compromise with their ideals he promised “ the
star of
dawn” and “ authority over the nations”.
About forty years previous to the time that St. John wrote those words
to the
congregation in Thyatira, St. Paul had met one of the merchants from
there
when he arrived in Philippi. This was on his second Journey. The merchant
was Lydia, a woman dealing in expensive purple cloth. Under St.
Paul’s influence
she and her whole household became baptized Christians. Lydia she insisted
that St. Paul and his companions Timothy and St. Luke should stay in her house
in Philippi ( Acts 16:13-15 ). By the end of the 1st century here must
have been a
sizable Christian community for St. John to have chosen it as one of
his seven
churches.
Pergamum’s
place in religious history is largely because of the paragraph
addressed to its Christian believers by St. John in the Book of Revelation
(Rev. 2:12-17 ). He characterized Pergamum as the place where Satan
was
enthroned.(Revelation 2:13).
St.John saw a group he called the Nicolatinas as an additional threat to the believers. Who these people were is not clearly known. ( Revelation 2:14-15 ) St.John condemned them for adultery and for eating food that had been sacrificed to pagan gods. St. John also promised a white stone and hidden manna to those who repented of their false beliefs and immoral behavior (Revelation 2:16-17). Drive to Ayvalik for dinner and overnight. (B,L,D)
Day 15 Ayvalik – Alexandria Troas - Assos – Troy - Canakkale
We leave our hotel and proceed to Alexandria Troas The City's importance in religious history comes from the visits by St. Paul on his missionary journeys. On his second Journey St. Paul had wanted to go north into ithynia, but instead he and his companion Timothy were deflected to the Aegean Coast. In the night a Macedonian appeared to St. Paul asking him Come over to Macedonia and help us". This is noted as the inspiration and beginning of the spread of Christianity in to Europe (Acts 16 : 7,12).
St.Paul was in Alexandria Troas again for a week as he returned from Macedonia on his third journey. Eutychus, one of his young listeners, was sitting in a window, perhaps to get some fresh air because there were a lot of lambs burning. Around midnight he went to sleep in the stuffy room and fell out, landing on the ground. St.Paul ran down, examined him, looked at him and said: “ Stop this commotion, there is still life in him “ (Acts 20:10). The incident was only a brief interruption in the discussion that continued until after sunrise.
Assos was a stop-over for St. Paul. Arriving at Assos on foot from Alexandria Troas, St.Paul preached here and climbed down to the little port on the shore to board the boat on his return journey to Jerusalem.
Then we will drive and reach Troy. Troy is the home of legend.Homer immortalized Troy and Trojan Horse in his stories of KingPriam, Hector, Paris, and thebeautiful Helen. Archeological excavations have revealed nineseparate periods of settlement including ruins of city walls, house foundations, a temple and a theatre. Dinner and overnightin Canakkale. (B,L,D)
Day
16 Canakkale - Istanbul Half Day
“Old City” Tour
Following the breakfast we drive to Istanbul. We will be traveling through scenic countryside. After lunch we willhave 'Old City' tour in Istanbul.
We will stop by the Hippodrome beforeproceeding to the Blue Mosque, so called because of the impressive Iznik ( Nicea) blue tileslining its walls. Then we will go into the St. Sophia Church Museum. Dinner and overnight in Istanbul. (B,L,D)
Day
17 Istanbul Departure
Free
till transfer to the airport. (B)
For specifically interested parties, the program may include one day visit to
Patmos Island (Greece) where St. John wrote the book of Revelation.
For price and more planning details contact us info@pilgrimagetoturkey.com