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DAY 01: NORTH AMERICA / EUROPE.
Depart USA en route to Frankfurt, Germany and
on to Istanbul.
DAY 02: ISTANBUL.
We arrive in Istanbul, Turkey and transfer to our hotel
for dinner and overnight.
DAY
03: ISTANBUL / KAYSERI (CAPPADOCIA). Istanbul
is considered by many travelers to be the most beautiful city in all the
world. In this wondrous city you can see Topkapi Palace, home of the
Ottoman Sultans, with its jewel-encrusted thrones, the world's largest
emerald and the famous Topaki dagger. You won't want to miss the
legendary Blue Mosque with six minarets, or the Grand Bazaar, a covered
labyrinth with over 4,000 shops. Then we transfer to the Istanbul
airport for our flight to Kayseri. From the Kayseri airport, our
private motor coach whisks us off to the "other worldly" landscape of
Cappadocia. We are surrounded by the lunar landscapes of Cappadocia.
Our evening meal awaits us, then we retire to rest from our journey.
DAY 04: CAPPADOCIA / ANTAKYA
(Antioch on the Orontes). We depart this
morning for Antalya traveling through the Taurus Mountains. We will
visit the St. Peter's Grotto and Seleucia Preira, today's Samandag, a
small fishing village which is about 25 kms. from Antioch where Barnabas
and Paul set sail for Cyprus on their first missionary journey. Acts 13
tells how Barnabas and Paul, arriving from Psidian Antioch, "preached
the Word of the Lord in Perge then went down to Antalya, from whence
they took a ship to Antioch." Dinner and overnight at our hotel in
Antakya.
DAY 05: ANTAKYA / SILIFKE
(Seleucia Isauria). Depart Antakya this
morning for Silifke. We will visit Tarsus, the birthplace of Paul, the
Hell and Heaven and Maiden Castle en route to Silifke for dinner and
overnight.
 DAY
06: SILIFKE / KONYA (Iconium). We depart
Silifke this morning for Konya via Karaman, visiting Derbe and Lystra en
route. We will visit the mausoleum and museum of Mevlana, the founder
of Sufis and Whirling Dervishes upon our arrival. Konya (Iconium -
Acts 14:1-6) is the only presently active Galatian city visited by Paul.
This is a city thriving with Turkish culture. Konya is home to much of
the typical Seljuk architecture. Dinner and overnight in Konya.
DAY 07: KONYA / PAMUKKALE via
YALVAC (Antioch of Pisidia). After breakfast,
we depart to Laodicea, bare ruins marking one of the Seven Churches of
Asia Minor. Laodicea was known as the most irresolute of the Churches.
Hieropolos is site of one of the first Christian churches and St.
Philip's martyrdom in 87 A.D. We visit its churches, theatre, baths and
necropolis. The nearby mineral springs of Pamukkale have drawn visitors
for centuries. Dinner and overnight in Pamukkale.
DAY 08: PAMUKKALE / AYVALIK.
Day long tour to Philadelphia (present day Alashehir) and Sardis, once
the capital of Lydia. Both sites are referred to in the Book of
Revelations, with Sardis remaining "one of the most picturesque of any
of the Seven Churches". It was in Sardis that the first known use of
coinage was introduced into the world. We end our tour in the city of
Cannakale.
 DAY
09: CANAKKALE / TROY / PERGAMUM / IZMIR / KUSADASI.
We continue today through Pergamum where the first Christian was put to
death by the Roman state. We will also see the site of the Homonym
Church as well as the Acropolis, the Asclepion, the Red Basilica and the
church of Pergamum. We continue on to Izmir. In Izmir (Smyrna) a tour
of the city and a visit to the Church of Smyrna. Here was located one
of the seven churches which the Risen Lord addressed the epistles. The
ruins of the Roman agora - the market place - take a visitor back to
apostolic days. Visit the ancient city of Hierapolis, which means holy
city. Continue to Kusadasi where we will overnight.
DAY 10: EPHESUS / PATMOS /
OVERNIGHT FERRY. This morning, you will tour
Kusadasi, Turkey and will journey to Ephesus where Paul spent three
years during his ministry. It was to this community that Paul may have
written his Epistle to the Ephesians. Visit the ruins of St. John's
Basilica where early Christian tradition tells us the "disciple whom
Jesus loved" was buried. You will see one of the "Seven Wonders of the
Ancient World," the ruin of the Temple of Diana (Artemis). This
afternoon you will sail for Patmos. Patmos is a sacred island
for the Christian religion. It was here that St. John lived and wrote
the Book of Revelations. Visit the Monastery of St. John and the Grotto
of the Apocalypse (Revelation), and then board our overnight ferry to
Piraeus, the port of Athens. Dinner and breakfast on board.
DAY 11: PIRAEUS / THESSALONIKI.
After we disembark our ferry, we transfer to the Athens airport for our
flight to Thessaloniki. Today we become acquainted with Thessaloniki,
the “Queen of the North,” where Paul wrote two epistles to the ancient
Thessalonians. Built by King Cassandros and named after the sister of
Alexander the Great, the city flourished under the Byzantine Empire and
its most important buildings date from those days. We will drive
along the waterfront to the massive White Tower and nearby Triumphal
Arch of Galerius, built in 303 AD. Dinner and overnight at our hotel.
 DAY
12: PHILIPPI / KAVALA Today we visit ancient
Philippi, where Octavian and Anthony defeated Brutus and Cassius, the
last defenders of the Roman Republic in 42 B.C. It was here in Philippi
that Paul delivered his first sermon in Europe, sowing the seeds of
Christianity. Here Paul baptized a “certain woman named Lydia”, the
first Christian convert in Europe. Drive to Kavala, ancient Neapolis
where Paul accompanied by Silas, Luke, and Timothy first set foot in
Europe. Return to Thessaloniki for dinner and overnight.
DAY 13: THESSALONIKI / VERIA /
PELLA / ATHENS. We depart through the
beautiful countryside of Northern Greece, going through Veria where Paul
stopped and preached, and then to ancient Pella. Arrival in Athens in
the late afternoon and on to our hotel.
DAY 14: ATHENS CITY TOUR /
CORINTH.
"Men of Athens, I perceive that in every way you are religious. For as I
passed along and observed the objects of your worship, I found also an
altar with this inscription ‘to an unknown God’. What therefore you
worship as unknown, this I proclaim to you . . .”
Today we visit Athens, one of the
most glorious cities in the world and the cradle of western civilization
as we know it today. For twenty five centuries, the panorama of this
city is dominated by the rock of the Acropolis; we see the ruins of the
Parthenon, the Erectheum and the Propylae. Thereafter, we will ascend
Mars Hill where Paul spoke to the ancient Athenians about the one and
only God. From here we have an excellent view of the ancient agora;
former center of the Athenian public life. We continue for a drive
through the city to see the House of Parliament on Syntagma Square, the
evzones in their picturesque uniforms guarding the Presidential Palace
and Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. We also see the Library, the
University, the Panathenaic Stadium where the first Olympics of the
modern era were held, the temple of the Olympian Zeus and Adrian's
Arch.
“Do not be
afraid, but speak and do not be silent; for I am with you, and no man
shall attack you to harm you; for I have many people in this city."
(Acts 18:9)
 We
board our coach for Corinth, taking the coastal road along the Saronic
Gulf to the Corinth Canal, which connects the Aegean Sea with the Ionian
Sea. Short stop for pictures and continue to the site of ancient
Corinth, Paul's beloved city and site of his most extensive ministry.
Dominated by the Acro-Corinth rising 1,700 feet above the ruins, the
marketplace is laid out exactly as it stood in the days of the great
Apostle. We see the bema (the judgment seat) where Paul stood before
Galilo and preached (Acts 18). The museum contains a superb collection
of artifacts portraying life in ancient Corinth. Return to Athens for
dinner and overnight.
DAY 15: ATHENS / NORTH
AMERICA. Transfer to the airport for our
flight home - the end of a wonderful journey. |
