After a tour of the Greek isles, I made it by sea to the city of Ephesus, on the western coast of Turkey. Paul the Apostle lived in Ephesus for a while and persuaded many people that handmade gods aren’t really gods. This helped to incite a riot that took place in this exact amphitheater. See Acts 19:23:38.
Paul actually wrote a letter to the saints at Ephesus and it is now an important book of the Bible. See the book of Ephesians.
The 20 million dollar note depicts Ephesus.
Ephesus was an important center for early Christianity from the AD 50s, and was one of the seven churches that are cited in the Book of Revelation. See Revelation 2. This road would have been fully columned and stretched nearly 20
miles to the Mediterranean Sea.
After Ephesus, I journeyed to the southwestern region of Turkey where I tried paragliding from the world’s highest tandem paragliding port.
I have to admit, I was a bit nervous when I saw that my instructor and paragliding partner barely spoke English and his eyes indicated he may have just enjoyed some hash.
All went well, and I was able to enjoy my accomplishment at a funky beach club.
I next hopped on a schooner cruise along the southern coast of Turkey. This was our vessel.
The crew caught fresh fish for us to feast on.
The passengers, myself included, were from the backpacker set.
The yacht tour took us to different ports and highlighted ancient ruins along the way.
After making landfall, I hightailed it up to Pamukkale, home of these spectacular looking baths made from a carbonate mineral left by the flowing water.
When one thinks of Turkey, they often think of Turkish carpets. Yes, if you go, you will be asked if you want to come in and take a look many times during your trip.
Next it was off to Göreme, in the central Cappadocia region of Turkey, home of the underground cities.
Through the ages, natives would tunnel into the rock to escape political turmoil.
During the Roman era, the area became home to Christians retreating from Rome. You can see many rock churches still there today.
Christians would worship in underground caves to avoid persecution.
It is hard to imagine the scope of some of these underground cities. Here is the plan of one of them.
I was able to explore some of these underground cities with a guide…
Many of the caves are still used today by the locals.
What does one eat while underground? Probably typical Turkish fare like the plate I enjoyed here.
The city is popular with tourists, and the locals host dinner shows where you can watch belly dancers and Whirling Dervishes perform.
At the end of my journey, I finally made it to the largest city in Turkey, Istanbul. It isn’t the capital, but with over 15 million inhabitants, nearly 20% of the entire Turkish population lives there. It was once called Constantinople, and before that, Byzantium.
Istanbul sits between the Black and Mediterranean Seas, and is considered the economic, historical, and cultural center of the country. This bazaar stretches for miles.
In Istanbul, the tea comes to you!
One of my favorite buildings in the world is Hagia Sophia, or Divine Wisdom. Built in 360AD, it was the world’s largest building and an engineering marvel of its time. It was also the world’s largest church for almost 1000 years, but In 1453, Constantinople was conquered by the Ottomans and it was converted into a mosque. Relics and mosaics were destroyed and four minarets were added. It remained a mosque until 1931 when it was closed to the public for four years. It was re-opened in 1935 as a museum by the Republic of Turkey.
Inside, some of the mosaics were plastered over instead of destroyed. Now that it is a museum, many have been uncovered.
This mosaic of Christ, the Deësis mosaic, is one of the treasures uncovered.
