Monday September 13

Odeon - Council Chamber

Today the highlight was a visit to Ephesus. Ephesus was the fourth largest city of the ancient world. 

It was great to walk on paths that Paul would have walked as he spent three years here teaching and evangelising.

The part that's been excavated so far is huge but there's probably twice as much again waiting to be discovered.

Ephesus Theatre

The theatre mentioned in Acts 19 where Demetrius and the silversmiths led a riot against Paul held 24000 people.

Of course it's a great tourist attraction and a destination for countless cruise ships so we were surrounded by literally thousands of people.

Main Street

Sunday September 12th

Today we left Pammukale for another long drive to Kusadasi near Ephesus.

We visited the site of Aphrodisias - named after Aphrodite. It has a magnificent Stadium,












a large council chamber - called an Odeon or Bouleuterion, shaped like a Roman Theatre, two large marketplaces - one for retial and one for wholesale trade

and of course a Temple to Aphrodite. The latter was later converted to a Christian Church.

It also has a museum with a collection of beautfully preserved statues.

After lunch we continued to Miletus. Miletus was the port where Paul called in to speak to the Ephesian Elders (Acts 20) on his way to Jerusalem but it is now 10km from the seas due to silting up of the bay from the River Meander that flows past the city.

Saturday Sept 11th

Today we travelled through the Lycus Valley, visiting the site of Colossae, though there was nothing to be seen except the hill where it was situated.













We then went 12 km further to the site of Laodicea.

Laodicea Main Street

Laodicea Temple

Pammukale Limestone pools

Here a lot of work has gone on in restoring the city, with excavations recovering a lot of material that is slowly being reassembled. This whole area has been subject to earthquakes which eventually destroyed this city and many others. Over the last three years a team from Pammukale University has been working to rebuild as much as they can.





















After that it was on to Hierapolis, now known as Pammukale (in Turkish it means cotton mountain)  where the high levels of calcium in the water have led to calcification of the mountainside.  The resultant landforms are quite magnificient as is the city that lies above it.  This was the city the rich came to to cure their ills or to pass their last days in peace so it has a necropolis with some 12000 burial sites of various types.

Friday Sept 10th

Today was meant to be a rest day - so we could catch our breath. But because yesterday's bus drive took so long we had to postpone two of our vists to this morning - so, ... another early morning! I really hate getting up early, especially every day!
But it was worth it. We visited Perge first, not the biblical Pergamum but the major city of Pamphyllia. It has a well preserved Stadium - one stadium long (200 metres) - hence the name -where athletics and chariot races were held as well as the occasional animal fight.  
















We saw the Nymphaeum - the place where people came to collect water and to bathe - named after the water nymphs of Greek mythology. The Agora (marketplace) is being restored as is the Main avenue leading to the Acropolis.

Agora

Roman Bath

The Main Avenue has a canal running alongside it that ran water down a channel with barriers every few meters to make the water flow over them and cool down the air nearby

Main Avenue with canal for cooling

The Roman Theatre was closed but that was OK because our nexst stop was Aspendos where there's a restored Roman theatre, still used for performances, notably Aida every June.

Thursday Sept 9th

Today we travelled from Konya to Antalya across the Taurus range, visiting Pisidian Antioch on the way.

Antioch was excavated in the early 20th century but not a lor has been done to restore it as yet. It holds a Temple to Caesar Augustus and a Church dedicated to Paul who preached one of his most developed evangelistic sermons to the Jews here.






Church of St Paul - Pisidian Antioch                                              Roman Theatre at Antioch





The Taurus range is a rugged mountain range, so called because in winter the snow covered peaks resemble a herd of bulls.

Antalya is a beautful city set on the Mediterranean - a popular destination for tour groups from Europe and Russia Many of whom dress quite inappropriately for a country like Turkey.

Wednesday Sept 8th

The highlight of today was a ballon rode over the region of Cappadocia around Goreme. We were in one of around 50 balloons n the air on a crisp and clear morning. To see the spectacular landscape with the added beauty of the balloons floating in an azure sky was truly unique.

Having returned from that early moring adventure we left for Konya, a long drive to the south west. Konya is the site of ancient Iconium but there were no archeological sites for us to visit.

We did however visit one of the preserved caravanserais where caravans on the silk route would stay overnight in a safe location.

Tuesday Sept 7th

Today we. explored more of the Goreme district, visiting underground churches and a monastery.

  

Underground church with stone pews

Spinning silk

In the afternoon we visited a carpet factory  where we saw a demonstration of carpet weaving and silk production.











and a ceramics studio where hand painted plates and tiles are produced

Monday Sept 6

Today we flew to Cappadocia. The land is volcanic with areas of volcanic Tuff covered by basalt. As the basalt erodes the volcanic Tuff below is quickly washed away leaving caves and spectacular cone shaped formations.

Typical Rock Formations

Undergrond restaurant

Undergrond restaurant

The rock is soft enough that it's easy to dig into so people have been making houses and storerooms below ground for 4000 years.

We went down an underground city that goes down 11 levels.

Underground City

Sunday Sept 5th

Today we drove to the Blue Mosque then spent the rest of the day on foot which was fine exceot that it started raining the moment we left the bus.

Blue Mosque Mosaic

The Blue (Sultan Ahmet) Mosque is so beautiful inside it tkaes your breath away.
 

Blue Mosque

Blue Mosque

Hagia Sophia

Hagia Sophia

Hagia Sophia

The Hagia Sophia was originally a church built by Constantine, rebuilt three times, the last time in its present form. Its name means Holy Wisdom so when the Muslim Ottomans overtook Istanbul they kept the church as a place for the worship of Allah who they also see as the God of Wisdom. The Christian mosaics were covered with plaster rather than being destroyd so were retrieved intact when the Ataturk government converted the mosque to a national museum dedicated to all religions.  

Today is the 1400th anniversary of the giving of the Koran so it was a public holiday and of course the sacred sites wre all buzzing with visitors 

Istanbul had several large cisterns to provide water to the city, one of which has been preserved as an underground museum. 

Cistern - Istanbul

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Topkapi Palace was the home of the Ottomans.