Pictures from Turkey

A “Taste” of the “Second Holy Land”

Clergy Familiarization Pilgrimage to Turkey

Personally escorted by:

The Rev. Orion Davis

May 2 - 10, 2007

Trip map

Day 1, Wednesday, May 2, 2007 - Depart the United States for our trans-Atlantic flight with superior in-flight service.  Dinner on board the aircraft. D

Day 2, Thursday, May 3, 2007 - Arrive Izmir (Ancient Biblical Smyrna). We meet our guide and driver after obtaining our luggage and a visa for Turkey.  (Visas are $20 and must be paid in cash. Please have $20 in US currency available upon landing.)  Then, eager to begin, we board our luxury motor coach and proceed to a point high above the city offering us a grand panoramic overview of Smyrna.  We shall have a cup of Turkish tea as we sit in front of the “Velvet Castle”, the walls of which may have been partly constructed by the soldiers/builders of Alexander the Great.  We proceed to our hotel for overnight and a welcome dinner.  Overnight in Kusadasi. BLD

Day 3, Friday, May 4, 2007 - We will visit “The Last Abode of the Virgin Mary” and the Monastery of St. John the Beloved Disciple.  We will have lunch in Selcuk, and then proceed to Ephesus where we will explore “The Most Excavated City in the World”.  We will visit the Double Church of St. Mary (Site of the Ecumenical Council).  We will celebrate Holy Eucharist in the ruins of the Double Church before we return to Kusadasi for dinner and overnight. BLD

Day 4, Saturday, May 5, 2007 - This morning we head almost due East into inland Turkey.  First we will visit Aphrodisias, the city of Aphrodite, goddess of love.  The ruins are a huge site with The Temple of Aphrodite, the Odeon, and the stadium, seating 30.000 people.  This stadium is one of the finest ruins in the world.  We will continue to Hierapolis (Col. 4:13), near the Turkish spa town called Pamukkale.  One tradition holds that Philip was martyred here.  Hierapolis was founded early in the 2nd century BC by the King of Pergamum.  The ruins contain a Roman theater, several temples and a huge necropolis with more than a thousand cut-stone sarcophagi spilling down the hill.  We will continue to Pamukkale, one of the most famous sites in all of Turkey.  Mineral – rich spring water cascades over basins and natural terraces, crystallizing into white curtains of solidified water seemingly suspended in air.  We will return to Kusadasi for dinner and overnight. BLD

Day 5, Sunday, May 6, 2007 - This morning we will drive to Bergama, (Pergamum) one of the Biblical Seven Churches (Rev. 2:12).  See The Acropolis, the site of Altar of Zeus, Temple of Dionysus and the Theater.  We visit the first “whole health center”, the Asclepion and begin to understand more about the world Paul inhabited.  We continue our travels to Bursa where we will have dinner and overnight.  Those who wish can enjoy one of the Turkish baths in our hotel or the vast swimming pool.  Dinner and overnight in Bursa. BLD

Day 6, Monday, May 7, 2007 - Today we explore Bursa which is known as Yesil Bursa because of its many parks and also because of Yesil Cami, the Green Mosque.  We will visit the Yesil Cami, thought to be one of the finest mosques in Turkey, and see the sea of fine blue and green Iznik tiles.  We continue to Iznik, ancient Nicea, location of the First Ecumenical Council of 325 A.D. which produced the Nicene Creed and the Seventh Ecumenical Council of 325 A.D., completing the division between Rome (the Roman Catholic Church) and Constantinople (The Eastern Orthodox Church).  We will celebrate Holy Eucharist and have lunch before we board a ferry that will take us to Istanbul.  Once in Istanbul, we will take a short walk to the Yerbatan Saray (Sunken Palace) also known as the Basilica Cistern.  We explore the underground network of waterways created at the behest of Emperor Constantine.  We will see the ancient Hippodrome, before we settle into our Istanbul hotel for dinner and overnight. BLD

Day 7, Tuesday, May 8, 2007 - We will visit the spectacular Topkapi Palace and after a tour of the Palace, we will have lunch.  Then we will visit the world famous Hagia Sophia, once the largest church in all of Christendom, then converted to a mosque, and now a museum.  We continue to the Blue Mosque, a grand and beautiful monument to Islam.  It is a huge structure surrounded by six minarets and inside you will find the walls covered with 20,000 or more shimmering blue iznik tiles and 260 stained glass windows.  We will return to our hotel in Istanbul for dinner and overnight. BLD

Day 8, Wednesday, May 9, 2007 - We begin our day with a visit to the Arkeoloji Museum (archaeological museum) which contains a fine collection of Greek and Roman antiquities.  We will meet our coach and continue to Kariye Museum also known as St. Saviour in Chora where we will find some of the most glorious frescoes and mosaics in all of Turkey.  Our coach will now take us to the famous Spice Market where we will have an hour or so to shop before we return to our hotel for a “gala farewell to Turkey dinner.”  Overnight in Istanbul. BLD

Day 9, Thursday, May 10, 2007 - We have an early wake up call and then we board our coach and transfer to the airport where we bid our driver and guide goodbye and board our return flight to the United States.  There will be time on the way home to reflect on those sights and experiences you will want to be a part of the pilgrimage you lead when you return with your own group to this “second Holy Land” in 2007 or 2008. BL

Price: $799.00.  Price is based on double occupancy without airline taxes and fuel surcharges.  Priced with air from New York, NY or Newark, NJ.  Air transportation available from other cities.  Single suppliment costs available upon request.

An application for travel insurance will be included with the receipt for your deposit.  We strongly recommend that you seriously consider this coverage.

Meals: B Breakfast, L Lunch, D Dinner

The itinerary is subject to change due to local conditions or at the discretion and direction of the leader or guide.