Hierapolis -
Pamukkale.
The oldest inscription found indicates that
Hierapolis was founded by Eumenes II, King of
Pergamum, in the later part of the second century
B.C.; it soon became a busy industrial centre.
Traditionally, St. Phillip is connected with the
early church in Hierapolis. Fairly recently, Italian
archaeologists have discovered his Martyrium, an
octogonal chamber forming a double cross surrounded
by a square. But no tomb was found with it although
that was expected. Hierapolis is listed in the New
Testament along with Laodicea as the centre of
Epaphras’s work. Another less well known resident
of Hierapolis was Papias, a disciple of St. John.
Troas
This city was founded by Antigonos and Lysimachos at
the command of Alexander the Great. Because of its
artificial harbor, Troas became a powerful and rich
commercial town. This city was visited several times
by St. Paul during his journeys.
Cappadocia
In the valley of Goreme stands an open-air museum
which used to house a religious community. Local
tradition has it that there were as many as 356
churches, one for each day of the year, of which
about thirty are open to the public.
They can be visited, but are not plainly visible from
the outside. All churches still standing in Göreme
were built after about 850 A.D. and decorated up to
the XI century with frescoes which, despite their
Byzantine influence, have extremely simple lines.
Miletus -
Balat
Miletus is an ancient city which seems to have been
inhabited by settlers between the end of the Minoan
and the Mycenean periods. Miletus was sacked by the
Persians under Darius in 494 B.C. and he massacred
its inhabitants. It was captured again by Alexander
the Great in 334 B.C. But rather than being
destroyed by carnage or looting, its end, like
Ephesus, came because its harbor silted up and its
commerce stopped. Paul’s visit to Miletus came at
the end of his 3rd journey as he was hurrying to get
to Jerusalem by Pentecost.
Perga -
Perge, Murtuna
Perga was an old city even in the first century. Its
name indicates that its origin dates from pre-Greek
times. Paul and Barnabas went through Perga on their
way to and from Antioch on their first journey. John
Mark was with them at first but left them at Perga
to return to Jerusalem. The second theory of why
they did not stay long in Perga is that their
interview with Sergius Paulus, the proconsul of
Cyprus, had made them want to hurry to the Roman
Colony in Antioch of Pisidia. On their return from
Antioch they did stay in Perga long enough to preach
and talk to the people there. |
Attalia -
Antalya
The city was founded in the second century B.C. by Attalus, King
of Pergamum, and was named for him. Attalia is not
named when Paul, Barnabas and Barnabas’ cousin, John
Mark, went from Paphosto Perga on their first
journey, but either Side or Attalia would have been
possible ports. Or they may have sailed straight to
the Perga wharf of the Cestrus (Aksu) River. On
their way back from Iconium they came through Perga
and sailed from Attalia to Antioch. No other mention
is made of Attalia in the Bible, nor is there any
comment about Paul’s missionary work there. Some
evidences of early Christianity are still to be seen
in Attalia.
Derbe
Derbe was the last Roman city on the road to the
east, so it was the point at which it was customary
to come together. Paul and Barnabas went from Lystra
to Derbe, after Paul had recovered from being stoned.
No details of Paul’s first journey in Derbe are
reported, and the only other possible reference to
it outside of its being mentioned in the 2nd journey,
is the identification of one of Paul’s companions
between Greece and Troas as “Gaius the Derbaean”.
Assos -
Behramköy
The beginning of a city in Assos goes back to
1000B.C.. An Ionian colony from Lesbos settled
there. Later on, it fell under Lydian and Persian
domination. In Paul’s third journey, Paul went by
land from Alexandria Troas to Assos, about a 35 kms
trip, to meet Luke and the others.
Colossae
Colossae was probably an important city in the old
days. In Xerxes’ march to Sardis and later to
Thermopylae he stopped in Colossae in about 481 B.C.
Pliny the Elder, the naturalist who lived during the
1st century A.D. says that Colossae was one of
the several famous cities.
Antioch on
Orontes - Antakya
Antioch was refounded and named by one of Alexander
the Great’s generals, Seleucus Nicator, who obtained
this area after
the battle of Ipsus in 301 B.C. He named the city
after his father, Antiochus. The city became Paul’s
home base for his missionary work.
Antioch of
Psida - Yalvac
The first mention of Pisidian Antioch in Acts is
when Paul, on his first missionary journey, arrived
there from Perga and addressed the congregation in
the Synagogue on the Sabbath with his first recorded
sermon.
St. Sophia
Church (Museum)
For both Christians and Muslims, St. Sophia is holy
ground. The name, St. Sophia, means holy wisdom.
When Sultan Mehmet II took the city in 1453 this
symbol of profound knowledge and sovereignty became
the prime mosque of his capital. Recognizing its
historic and universal importance, the Turkish
government made it a public museum in 1935. |
Mosaic Museum,
Antioch
Alexander Troas |
