5-Day Seven Churches of Revelation Tour from Izmir – Biblical Turkey

(Dinner) Welcome to Izmir, the biblical Smyrna. Your guide meets you holding a name sign at Izmir Adnan Menderes Airport or at the cruise port in Kusadasi or Cesme and accompanies you to your hotel. Once you have your room card, the rest of the day is free to discover the city on your own. A wander through the lanes of Kemeralti Bazaar, one of the oldest and largest markets in Turkey, is a lovely way to begin and a good chance to taste local kofte or baklava. In the evening dinner is served at the hotel, followed by your first night in Izmir.

After breakfast you drive north to Pergamum, today called Bergama, one of the Seven Churches of Asia (Revelation 1:11; 2:12). On the acropolis you see the theatre, the steepest of the ancient world, the foundations of the Altar of Zeus, which Revelation calls the "Throne of Satan", and the marble columns of the Temple of Trajan. Your guide also shows you the site of the famous library, which held more than 200,000 volumes, competed with the Library of Alexandria and inspired the invention of parchment. You then visit the Asklepion, the renowned medical centre of classical times, and the Red Basilica. The journey continues to Thyatira, modern Akhisar (Revelation 2:18-24; Acts 16:14), a city famous in antiquity for purple dye and home of Lydia, the seller of purple who became the first European convert. Here you see the remains of a basilica and Roman architectural fragments. Returning to Izmir, you enjoy a panoramic tour of Smyrna (Revelation 2:8-11), now the third largest city in Turkey, and ascend Mount Pagus to the Citadel of Lysimachus, built in the 4th century BC by a general of Alexander the Great, before passing the Clock Tower. Dinner and overnight in Izmir.

An early start takes you to Sardis, presently Sart (Revelation 1:11; 3:1-4), once the capital of the Lydian kingdom in the 6th century BC and described in Revelation as a church that appeared alive but was dead. You visit the great Temple of Artemis and the Temple of Cybele, later converted into a Byzantine church, the restored gymnasium and the reconstructed synagogue, and you see the last stretch of the Royal Road built by the Persians from Susa to Sardis, along with the gold-bearing Pactolus river. A lunch stop is made en route. Next comes Philadelphia, today Alasehir (Revelation 1:11; 3:7), the only one of the churches not reproached. The brick remains of a Byzantine basilica with a high arch and 11th-century fresco traces still stand. You then drive to Hierapolis at Pamukkale (Colossians 4:13), where hot mineral springs spill over cliffs to form white pools and terraces. Visit the Martyrium of the Apostle Philip, the Domitian Gate, the colonnaded main street, the 2nd-century theatre, the Nymphaeum, the Temple of Apollo, the Plutonium and the necropolis. Nearby Laodicea (Revelation 3:14; Colossians 2:1; 4:13-16) completes the day with its ancient theatre, basilica remains and stone water pipes. Dinner and overnight in Pamukkale.

After breakfast you travel west to Ephesus, where the Apostle Paul lived and preached for three years and to whose church he wrote an epistle (Revelation 2:1-7). Founded in the 10th century BC, the city is still being excavated today. Walk along its marble streets lined with grand public buildings: the Baths of Scholastica, the Temple of Hadrian, the magnificent Library of Celsus and the Great Theatre where Paul's preaching stirred up the silversmiths. You also see the site of the Temple of Artemis, the Temple of Diana of the Ephesians and one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World, and visit the Basilica of St. John, built over the tomb of the apostle. The day concludes at the House of the Virgin Mary on the slopes of Mount Koressos, where tradition holds that Mary spent her final years. Afterwards you continue to the coast for dinner and overnight in Kusadasi.

After a relaxed breakfast you check out and are driven to Izmir Adnan Menderes Airport for your flight home, carrying with you the experience of having walked in the footsteps of the apostles through all Seven Churches of Revelation. This concludes our five-day biblical journey through western Turkey. Depending on your flight time, there may be a little free time in the morning for a final walk or some last souvenir shopping before the transfer. Your guide will confirm the pickup time the evening before so that you reach the airport comfortably ahead of check-in.