COME ON A JOURNEY OF FAITH – 02 (CHRISTIAN HERITAGE)

ISTANBUL – ADANA – TARSUS – CAPPADOCIA – KONYA – ANTALYA –  PERGE – PAMUKKALE – EPHESUS – KUSADASI – BERGAMA – TROY – BURSA – ISTANBUL

DAY 1 – DEPART HOME FOR YOUR FLIGHT TO ISTANBUL

DAY 2 – ISTANBUL
ARRIVE AT ISTANBUL INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT (IST) AND YOU ARE ASSISTED WITH CUSTOMS AND TRANSFERRED TO YOUR HOTEL.

DAY 3 – ISTANBUL
FIRST YOU WILL VISIT THE BLUE MOSQUE, THE 17TH CENTURY OTTOMAN MOSQUE FAMOUS FOR ITS MAGNIFICENT INTERIOR DECORATED WITH BLUE TILES, THEN TO THE HIPPODROME, WHERE CHARIOT RACES TOOK PLACE DURING THE ROMAN TIMES – CONTINUE TO ST. SOPHIA AND MARVEL AT THIS MASTERPIECE OF BYZANTINE ARCHITECTURE. AFTER LUNCH CONTINUE TO THE TOPKAPI PALACE WITH ITS DAZZLING DISPLAY OF THE TREASURES OF THE OTTOMAN SULTANS. THE DAY’S FINAL STOP IS THE GRAND BAZAAR WHERE YOU CAN BARGAIN IN YOUR CHOICE OF OVER 4,000 SHOPS.

DAY 4 – ADANA – TARSUS – ANTAKYA
EARLY MORNING FLIGHT TO ADANA. DRIVE TO TARSUS, THE BIRTHPLACE OF ST. PAUL, FOR A VISIT TO ST. PAUL’S WELL, CLEOPATRA’S GATE AND THE TOMB OF SARDANAPULUS. AFTER LUNCH CONTINUE TO ANTIOCH ON THE ORONTES, WHERE THE FOLLOWERS OF JESUS WERE FIRST CALLED CHRISTIANS. ST. PETER AND ST. BARNABAS BOTH CAME AND PREACHED HERE. VISIT ST. PETER’S GROTTO, WHICH IS REPUTED TO BE THE CAVE IN WHICH EARLY CHRISTIANS PRAYED IN SECRET, AND THE ANTAKYA MUSEUM WITH ITS EXQUISITE ROMAN MOSAICS. RETURN TO ADANA FOR DINNER AND OVERNIGHT.

DAY 5 – CAPPADOCIA
AFTER BREAKFAST DEPART FOR CAPPADOCIA. LUNCH ON ROUTE. IN THE AFTERNOON ARRIVE AT KAYMAKLI, AN IMMENSE UNDERGROUND CITY CARVED FROM THE VOLCANIC ROCK BY EARLY CHRISTIANS. CONTINUE TO CAPPADOCIA FOR DINNER AND OVERNIGHT.

DAY 6 – CAPPADOCIA
YOUR FULL DAY TOUR OF CAPPADOCIA BEGINS WITH A VISIT TO THE NATURAL CITADEL OF UCHISAR, THE GOREME VALLEY – AN OPEN-AIR MUSEUM WITH ITS CAVE-CHURCHES HEWN OUT OF ROCK. VISIT THE MONASTIC VALLEY OF ZELVE – THE VALLEY OF FAIRY CHIMNEYS AND THE CAVES OF THE ANCIENT VILLAGE OF AVANOS. DINNER AND OVERNIGHT IN CAPPADOCIA.

DAY 7 – KONYA – ANTALYA
EARLY MORNING DEPARTURE FOR KONYA. ST. PAUL AND ST. BARNABAS BOTH PREACHED HERE IN A SYNAGOGUE. TO DAY, THE CITY IS FAMOUS FOR ITS SELJUK MOSQUES AND MONUMENTS, AND THE MONASTERY OF THE GREAT MYSTIC MEVLANA, LEADER OF THE WHIRLING DERVISHES. AFTER LUNCH CONTINUE TO ANTALYA FOR DINNER AND OVERNIGHT.

DAY 8 – PERGE – ASPENDOS
AFTER BREAKFAST VISIT THE RUINS OF PERGE WITH ITS GREAT THEATER, STADIUM AND THE HUGE HELLENISTIC AND ROMAN GATES. NEXT COMES ASPENDOS, SITE OF THE BEST PRESERVED ROMAN THEATER IN THE MEDITERRANEAN. ST. PAUL AND ST. PETER WENT THROUGH PERGE ON THEIR WAY TO AND FROM ANTIOCH ON THEIR FIRST JOURNEY, AND STAYED HERE LONG ENOUGH TO SHARE THEIR MESSAGE OF HOPE AND JOY. AFTER LUNCH VISIT THE ANTALYA MUSEUM. OVERNIGHT AND DINNER IN ANTALYA.

DAY 9 – APHRODISIAS – PAMUKKALE
VISIT THE CITY OF APHRODITE, WITH ITS NEAR PERFECT STADIUM, THEATER AND TEMPLE. AFTER LUNCH CONTINUE TO PAMUKKALE (COTTON CASTLE) – AN APT DESCRIPTION OF THE NATURAL PHENOMENON OF FANTASTIC WHITE LIMESTONE TERRACES. OVERNIGHT IN PAMUKKALE.

DAY 10 – KUSADASI
CONTINUE TO EPHESUS, ONE OF THE WORLD’S FINEST ARCHAEOLOGICAL SIGHTS. VISIT THE ARCADIAN WAY, THE SPLENDID FACADE OF THE LIBRARY OF CELSUS, THE AMPHITHEATER WHERE ST. PAUL PREACHED TO THE EPHESIANS THAT “GODS MADE BY HUMAN HANDS ARE NOT GODS AT ALL”. VISIT THE CHURCH OF THE VIRGIN MARY WHERE THE THIRD ECUMENICAL COUNCIL WAS HELD IN 431 AD. AFTER LUNCH VISIT THE BASILICA OF ST. JOHN AND THEN THE HOUSE OF THE VIRGIN MARY SPECTACULARLY SITUATED ABOVE THE RUINS. ONE TRADITION MAINTAINS THAT ST. JOHN BROUGHT THE VIRGIN MARY TO EPHESUS, AND THAT SHE SPENT THE REST OF HER LIFE IN THE HOUSE ON THE HILLTOP. THE HOME IS NOW VISITED BY THOUSANDS OF PILGRIMS EACH YEAR, AND POPE PAUL VI AND POPE JOHN PAUL II BOTH CELEBRATED MASS HERE. DINNER AND OVERNIGHT IN KUSADASI.

DAY 11 – PERGAMON – CANAKKALE
DRIVE NORTH ALONG THE BEAUTIFUL AEGEAN COAST TO BERGAMA, THE ANCIENT CITY OF PERGAMUM. VISIT THE ACROPOLIS, THE TEMPLE OF ATHENA AND THE FAMOUS LIBRARY, BEFORE VIEWING THE RUINS OF ASKLEPION. OVERNIGHT IN CANAKKALE.

DAY 12 – TROY – BURSA
AFTER BREAKFAST DEPART FOR THE LEGENDARY TROY, MADE FAMOUS BY HOMER IN THE ILIAD. VISIT THE RUINS OF THE NINE CITIES BUILT ON TOP OF EACH OTHER, AND THE HUGE RECONSTRUCTION OF THE FAMOUS WOODEN HORSE. CONTINUE TO BURSA AND VISIT THE GREEN MOSQUE AND TOMB DECORATED WITH BRILLIANT COLORED TILES. NEXT IS THE GREAT MOSQUE WITH A FOREST OF COLUMNS. DINNER AND OVERNIGHT IN BURSA.

DAY 13 – BURSA – IZNIK – ISTANBUL
AFTER BREAKFAST DRIVE TO NICAEA. VISIT ST. SOPHIA OF NICAEA WHERE THE FIRST AND SEVENTH ECUMENICAL COUNCILS WERE HELD. WITH THE SEVENTH ECUMENICAL COUNCIL THE DIVISION BETWEEN ROME AND CONSTANTINOPLE BECAME COMPLETE, THE ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH AND THE EASTERN ORTHODOX CHURCH EACH GOING ITS OWN WAY. CONTINUE TO ISTANBUL.

DAY 14 – ISTANBUL
ENJOY A MORNING CRUISE ON THE BOSPHORUS, THE WINDING STRAIT THAT SEPARATES EUROPE AND ASIA, CONNECTING THE BLACK SEA WITH THE MARMARA SEA. ENJOY THE SIGHT OF OLD WOODEN MANSIONS, OTTOMAN PALACES AND ANCIENT FORTRESSES. AFTER LUNCH IN A FISH RESTAURANT ON THE EUROPEAN SIDE CROSS OVER THE BOSPHORUS BRIDGE AND ARRIVE IN ASIA. VISIT THE CAMLICA HILL WHERE YOU CAN ADMIRE THE MAGNIFICENT PANORAMA OF ISTANBUL. DRIVE TO THE BEYLERBEYI PALACE, WHICH WAS USED AS A SUMMER PALACE OF THE SULTANS.

DAY 15 – TRANSFER TO THE AIRPORT FOR YOUR FLIGHT HOME.