A 14-Day Faith Journey through Turkey & Greece

Welcome to Istanbul — ancient Byzantium, later Constantinople — where empires rose and fell and Christianity flourished for over a millennium. Meet your tour director and fellow pilgrims for an orientation on Paul's missionary journeys, followed by a welcome dinner and opening devotional. Early arrivals may enjoy a sunset view toward Hagia Sophia square, the great church of Byzantine Christendom — a fitting threshold to two millennia of faith in these lands.

A morning flight brings us to Antioch on the Orontes (Antakya) — the third city of the Roman Empire and the launching pad of every one of Paul's missionary journeys. Here the disciples were first called Christians (Acts 11:26), and here Paul and Barnabas were set apart by the Holy Spirit for the mission to the nations (Acts 13:1–3). We visit the Grotto of Saint Peter, a cave church venerated as one of Christianity's earliest gathering places — with quiet time for personal reflection — and taste Antakya's celebrated cuisine before driving across the plain of ancient Cilicia to our hotel in Adana.

In Tarsus, birthplace of Saul who became Paul — “a citizen of no ordinary city” — we visit St. Paul's Well, the Cleopatra Gate, the ancient Roman road with its original paving, and the Church of St. Paul. Walk streets that heard a boy's first prayers — prayers that would shake nations. We then cross the dramatic Cilician Gates, the mountain pass Paul himself walked at the start of his journeys into Anatolia, and pause at the silent mound of Derbe, where Paul and Barnabas “won a large number of disciples” (Acts 14:21) — seed sown in secret, fruit that endures. Evening arrival in Konya, ancient Iconium.

At Lystra, Paul healed a man lame from birth, was hailed as a god, then stoned and left for dead — and rose and walked back into the city (Acts 14). This was also young Timothy's hometown. After a panoramic look at Iconium, we continue to Pisidian Antioch, where Paul preached his first great recorded sermon in the synagogue (Acts 13) — its setting among the cardo, theater, Augusteum and church ruins brought vividly to life by our guide. A scenic drive past Lake Eğirdir brings us to Pamukkale and our thermal resort hotel, whose mineral pools are the perfect remedy for the journey's most adventurous road day.

Three biblical cities lie within sight of one another in the Lycus Valley. At Laodicea — the church warned for being lukewarm — we walk Syria Street to one of the world's oldest excavated church buildings, and see with our own eyes the object lesson every first-century listener understood: hot springs on one horizon, cold mountain streams on the other. The mound of Colossae marks the city that received the letter proclaiming the supremacy of Christ — a quiet, moving stop for personal reflection. At Hierapolis, where tradition places the Apostle Philip's martyrdom, we visit the Martyrium of St. Philip, then walk barefoot across the dazzling white travertine terraces — living waters cascading for millennia. Optional swim in Cleopatra's Antique Pool among submerged Roman columns.

Three churches of Revelation in one unforgettable day. Philadelphia, the church of the open door that no one can shut — its massive basilica piers still rising among the modern town. Sardis, capital of ancient Lydia, “alive in name but dead” — with the largest synagogue of the ancient world, Byzantine shops etched with crosses, and the Temple of Artemis with a humble church sheltering at its corner: faith that outlived an empire. Thyatira, hometown of Lydia the seller of purple — a thread we will pick up again at Philippi, where she became Europe's first believer. Evening at leisure on Izmir's Kordon waterfront.

By cable car we ascend the Acropolis of Pergamon: the foundations of the Altar of Zeus — widely identified with “Satan's throne” of Revelation 2 — the breathtaking theater carved into the cliffside, the Temple of Trajan, and the site of the ancient world's second-greatest library, where parchment got its name. Here Antipas, the first named martyr of Asia, held fast. We also visit the Asklepion, antiquity's famed healing sanctuary — a striking backdrop for reflecting on the One who truly heals. Afternoon drive to Kusadasi, our Aegean base for three nights.

A full day in Ephesus, where Paul ministered for over two years until “all Asia heard the word of the Lord.” We enter early, walking Curetes Street past the Temple of Hadrian to the Library of Celsus, through the agora where the silversmiths' riot erupted, and into the Grand Theater — 24,000 seats — where the mob chanted for two hours. In that theater, the drama of Acts 19 comes vividly to life. We also visit the frescoed Terrace Houses, homes like those where the first house churches met; the Basilica of St. John, built over the apostle's venerated tomb; the lone column of the Temple of Artemis, once a wonder of the world; and the serene House of the Virgin Mary on Nightingale Hill, with personal time for prayer.

After eight days following Paul across Anatolia, the journey pauses — a deliberate Sabbath at the midpoint of the pilgrimage. The day is entirely at leisure in Kusadasi: the hotel pool, a stroll along the harbor promenade to Pigeon Island, the bazaar, or simply unhurried time with Scripture, a journal, and the Aegean horizon. Lunch at a local restaurant is included even today. An informal mid-morning devotional and sharing hour is offered at the hotel for those who wish. Rest is part of the pilgrimage too.

On departures where the optional Patmos excursion is confirmed, participating pilgrims sail to the island of the Revelation on this day — see the Optional Patmos section below. Those not joining simply enjoy the free day.

Smyrna — city of myrrh — received no rebuke from Christ, only encouragement: “Be faithful, even to the point of death.” We visit the Church of St. Polycarp, honoring the disciple of John martyred here around AD 155 (“Eighty-six years I have served Him, and He has done me no wrong”), and the excavated Roman Agora of Smyrna, one of the finest preserved agoras of the ancient world — then take in the panoramic view over the city and bay from Mount Pagos. After lunch we fly to Thessaloniki via Istanbul — and as with Paul in Acts 16, the Gospel crosses into Europe.

Along the ancient Via Egnatia to Philippi, where Paul preached his first sermon on European soil. At the riverside Baptistery of St. Lydia — where Lydia of Thyatira became Europe's first recorded believer — pilgrims pause for quiet remembrance at the water's edge. In the UNESCO-listed ruins we see the forum, the traditional prison where Paul and Silas sang at midnight, the great basilicas, and the paving stones of the Via Egnatia itself. Lunch stop in Kavala, biblical Neapolis, where Paul first stepped ashore in Europe. Back in Thessaloniki — the city that accused Paul of turning the world upside down — we tour the Byzantine ramparts, the Arch of Galerius, and St. Demetrios, and read from 1 Thessalonians, the earliest letter of the New Testament, in the city it was written to.

In Berea, whose people “examined the Scriptures every day to see if what Paul said was true,” we stand at the mosaic-adorned Bema of St. Paul and walk the lanes of the old quarter. Then across the plain of Thessaly rises one of the wonders of the Christian world: Meteora — colossal rock pillars crowned by monasteries where prayer has not ceased for six centuries. We visit two monasteries, their chapels glowing with Byzantine frescoes, and end with a sunset panorama over the entire rock forest. Overnight beneath the towering stones of Kalambaka.

Driving south past Thermopylae and the vertiginous Corinth Canal, we reach Ancient Corinth, where Paul lived and worked for eighteen months, making tents with Aquila and Priscilla. We stand at the Bema Seat where he was arraigned before Gallio, walk the Lechaion Road past the Temple of Apollo, and find a New Testament name set in stone — the Erastus pavement (Romans 16:23). Standing at the Bema, the words of 1 Corinthians 13 — written to this very city — take on new depth. Evening arrival in Athens, with dinner in the lanes of the Plaka beneath the floodlit Acropolis.

A final morning on the summit of the ancient world: the Acropolis, with the Parthenon and Erechtheion — the glory of the paganism Paul confronted. Directly below, we stand on the bare rock of Mars Hill, the Areopagus, and read Paul's address to the philosophers in full: “What you worship as something unknown I am going to proclaim to you.” A closing reflection at our farewell lunch commissions each pilgrim to carry the message home. After a panoramic drive and the farewell lunch, transfers to Athens International Airport. Optional extra night in Athens or a Greek islands cruise extension available.