Turkiye has a large number of sites telling of the faith's early days
Turkish tour company Karavan Turkey is inviting Christians who are curious about their faith to explore a country that’s found outside of the Holy Land but is still steeped in sites that date back to Christianity’s earliest days.
The Istanbul-headquartered company – in business since 1969 – says among other things Turkiye provided a refuge for many Christians fleeing Roman persecution and is likely the final resting place of arguably Christianity’s most famous female figure.
Guide Taner Unal told a Wheelhouse Travel Alliance webinar that the Turkish archeological site of Ephesus – a popular tourist destination shaped by several civilizations, including the Romans and Greeks – is near a home in which Virgin Mary is believed by many to have spent her final years, with the House of the Virgin Mary proving popular with religious pilgrims.
St. Paul at times lived and preached in Ephesus, while its Basilica of St. John is believed to stand on the final resting spot of John the Apostle.
“Ephesus is one of the places that you must include on any tour schedule about early Christianity,” Unal told viewers.
Those visiting Ephesus today can see structures dating back thousands of years, making it almost unrivalled in historical terms, Unal added. “Besides being an important location in Christianity, it’s the second-best preserved (ancient) city of the world.”
Unal suggested only Pompei is better preserved. Unal added that the city of Antioch’s ties with the Christian faith include it being the location where Christians first began using that term to describe themselves.
Cappadocia — famed for its cave-like dwellings — long ago attracted Christians who were hiding from the Romans and built churches into rockfaces, and now has a huge number of those places of worship. Ancient frescoes can be seen in churches.
Unal listed many other Turkish locales that have strong links to ancient Christianity, among them Istanbul, which in 1054 became the center of Eastern Orthodox Christianity following a schism in the.
Visible reminders of Istanbul’s Christian heritage include massive and long-standing Saint Sophia, which is now a mosque, and ancient mosaics that retell Biblical stories.
The webinar also displayed many Biblical passages referencing Turkish Biblical ties.
Karavan tours revolving around Christianity include the likes of the week-long Seven Churches of Revelation and the 11-day Footsteps St. Paul.
Meanwhile, Karavan adds that it has several divisions, including one that works with such cruise companies as Celestyal Cruises and Costa Cruises, with Turkiye’s Aegean Coast seeing many cruise calls.
More information is available at karavantravel.com.
