Religious Studies Tour to Türkiye – Great Faiths and World Cultures

Our 24-hour Tour Director will meet us at the airport and remain with us throughout our cultural immersion tour in Türkiye until our final airport departure.

Istanbul, known as Constantinople until the early 20th century, is a city much immortalized in art and literature. Enjoy walking and shopping in Istiklal Street, formerly the Grande Rue De Pera. It has smart shops, several large Embassies and Churches, many impressive residential buildings and a scattering of tea shops, cafes and restaurants.

Enjoy an evening meal with your group.

"We do not learn from experience, we learn from reflecting on experience" - John Dewey On every evening of the educational travel tour to Türkiye, we will set time aside to update our Reflection Journal and share thoughts and impressions that have come to the fore in the course of the day.

Visit the impressive Blue Mosque also known as the Sultanahmet/Suleymaniye Mosque; this is the masterpiece of Sinan the Chief Architect of the Ottoman Empire, and is considered as to be one of the best amongst the Imperial Mosques.

Explore the Sunken Palace (underground Theodosian Cistern), a huge 6th century Byzantine cistern that was originally used to supply water to important parts of Constantinople. Its use continued even into the 15th century AD when the Ottoman Empire made use of the water collectors.

Hagia Sofia, originally a Christian basilica erected in 360 AD, is a thousand years older than St. Peter's in Rome. First a church, then a mosque and now a museum, it is considered to be the supreme masterpiece of Byzantine architecture.

Visit the Hippodrome, the city’s former stadium, which today features a Brazen Column, the Serpentine Column and an Egyptian Obelisk.

Discover Topkapi Palace - a luxurious preserve that was the imperial seat of the Ottoman Empire. The Palace complex is surrounded by three miles of walls and is the oldest and largest Palace in the world. We will walk through the back streets of Old Istanbul and visit the elegant little Sokullu Pasa mosque and the hidden underground Theodosian Cistern (or a visit to Suleymaniye Mosque may be made).

Visit the Grand Bazaar - one of the oldest covered market places in the world. The Bazaar's labyrinth of tunnels contains over 4,000 shops where all kinds of carpets, trinkets, jewelry and clothes can be purchased.

This evening we will enjoy a dinner cruise, followed by a spectacular Oriental Show with belly dancers and folk singers.

Ankara was once a Hittite town, then a Roman city, and now is the capital of the modern Türkiye.

Visit the Museum of Anatolian Civilizations, one of the most important museums in the world, to explore its collections of artifacts for an in-depth introduction to Hattian, Hitite and Phyrigian and Assyrian Civilizations, also seeing the excellent collection of relics dating from the Paleolethic, Neolithic, Calcholitic, Bronze Age eras excavated in some of the oldest towns of Anatolia.

We continue on our journey from Ankara to Cappadocia. Cappadocia has been referenced by Persian Kings as far back as the sixth century BC. It is known for its incredible geographical features such as the famous fairy chimneys and expansive, undulating rock formations. No educational travel tour to Türkiye would be complete without a visit to Cappadocia!

For the next two nights, our base will be in Cappadocia (area). While here, breakfast and dinner will be provided at the hotel.

While in Cappadocia we will visit the ancient monastic site of Goreme and the Open Air Museum, the best known and most visited site of all the monastic settlements in the Cappadocia region. This steep-sided little valley once housed a thriving monastic community, living and worshiping in houses and churches cut into the surrounding cliffs. It is also the largest of the religious complexes, and its churches contain some of the most fascinating of all the frescoes in Cappadocia. The frescoes in these churches, which date from the 5th to the 12th centuries, are true masterpieces of Byzantine art.

Our day continues with a visit to Uchisar Castle, the highest peak in the region and the most prominent land formation. We will climb 120 steps to the summit of the fortress, where we will enjoy spectacular views of the rocky landscapes of Cappadocia.

Our afternoon concludes with a visit to the Kaymakli Underground City, a wonderful example of a functional subterranean complex. The complex, believed to descend 65 feet into the earth, was home to approximately 15,000 people at a time, with air shafts, water wells and storage spaces capable of supporting the population for several months. We will enjoy a tour of the four levels that have been cleared out since 1964, including kitchens, stables, a winery and a chapel with a confessional.

We will return to our hotel where we will have dinner together this evening.

We continue on our journey from Cappadocia to Pamukkale. En route, we will stop and visit Konya. Konya is the oldest city of Türkiye, the capital of the Seljuk Empire and home to the world-renowned sect of the Whirling Dervishes.

Explore and discover Melvana's Mausoleum, home of the Whirling Dervishes. The highlight of our trip to the Mevlana Mausoleum is the Tomb of Celaleddin Rumi, founder of the sect and later awarded the title of Mevlana. The room is highly ornamented with Islamic script and enameled bas-relief, and contains the tombs of several of the more important figures of the dervish order.

Our accommodation for the next two nights will be in Pamukkale. While here, breakfast and dinner will be provided at the hotel.

Pamukkale has been hailed for millennia as a center of healing due to the carbon-rich hot springs that have resulted in the formation of white travertine in the area. The travertine deposits make Pamukkale a beautifully unique place to relax and experience history.

Swim in the effervescent waters of the Sacred Pool, which is the main source for the springs feeding the travertines. The pool lies in the center of a lush garden and cay evi (teahouse). Scattered about at the bottom of the crystal-clear pool like so much detritus is an amazing collection of striated columns and capitals, a striking reminder of the pool's pedigree. The thermal water maintains a relatively constant temperature of about 95°F.

Visit the impressive remains of the ancient city-spa of Hierapolis, where emperors and kings spent their weekends around 2,000 years ago. The city of Hierapolis was founded in 190 B.C. by Eumenes II as part of the great Empire of Pergamum and was probably named after Hiera. Eumenes II as part of the great Empire of Pergamum and was probably named after Hiera, the wife of the legendary founder of Pergamum. Considered a sacred site for the magic of its healing waters, Hierapolis reached its peak of development under the Romans at the end of the 2nd and 3rd centuries. During the Byzantine Era, a large church was erected to St. Philip, who was martyred here in A.D. 80. Our tour will include the stunning remains of the best-preserved Ancient Theater in Turkey, the Temple of Apollo, the Plutonium, the Martyrium of St. Philip, the Byzantine Gate; the Colonnaded Street; the monumental Arch of Domitian, and the Necropolis, stretching for over 1 mile and ending at the northern entrance to the site.

Today we will travel from Pamykkale to Kusadasi. Visit the ancient remains at Aphrodisias, the best-preserved example of a Hellenistic civilization in Türkiye. It is commonly believed that the cult of the mother goddess was central to the origins of Aphrodisias and as early as the 1st century BC it was recognized as a sacred sanctuary, and was awarded special privileges that began with Julius Caesar and lasted through the end of the Roman Empire. Aphrodisias is still undergoing excavations, compliments of New York University, and the site covers an area of 1,284 acres. Highlights of our tour will include the Temple of Aphrodite, built around the 1st century BC; the immense Stadium of Aphrodisias, an elongated oval, which rivals in grandeur the stadium of Pompeii; the truly Olympic-size Pool; the Theater; the Portico of Tiberius; and the Baths of Hadrian.

Our accommodation for the next one nights will be in Kusadasi. While here, breakfast and dinner will be provided at the hotel.

Ephesus is one of the best-preserved ancient cities in the world. It was a dream city, and it is believed that everybody at the time wanted to see Ephesus at least once. It was founded at the end of the old Silk Road, where the merchants from east and west used to meet and has always been coveted by different conquerors because of its location.

Visit Ephesus, where the Temple of Diana was one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World. Our tour includes the Forum, the Odeon, the Fountain of Trajan, the Temple of Hadrian, the Thermal Baths of Scolastika and the Great Theatre, built in the Greek era and reconstructed in the Roman period. Conclude the tour along the Arcadian Way, where Mark Anthony and Cleopatra once rode in procession.

At Mt. Koressos, visit the humble Chapel which lies on the site of the little house where the Virgin Mary is believed to have spent her final days. Despite many controversies, the Christian World still favors this belief, and the Vatican has officially sanctioned the site for pilgrimage.

We continue on our journey from Kusadasi to Izmir.

Our accommodation for the next one nights will be in Izmir. While here, breakfast and dinner will be provided at the hotel.

Izmir (the ancient and medieval city of Smyrna) is the third most populous city of Türkiye and the country's largest port after Istanbul. While in Izmir, we will visit the Archaeology Museum, highlighted by the Treasury, which houses gold jewelry dating from the 6th to 3rd centuries BC and offers ample proof of ancient artistic talent. The museum also features Roman and Byzantine silver and gold coins as well as artifacts from the Bayrakli Mound.

Visit the ancient remains of Pergamon, perched on a hilltop of the modern city of Bergama.

Enjoy a guided tour of the remains, highlighted by the City Walls; the Temple of Trajan, built in white marble; the Library Ruins, which once housed 200,000 parchment scrolls; the Altar of Zeus, whose altar was rebuilt in Berlin; the Upper Agora; and the Theater, constructed in the 3rd century BC.

We continue on our journey to Canakkale. Canakkale is one of the only cities aside from Istanbul that has land in both Europe and Asia. Evidence of human activity in the area dates as far back as 6000 BC. It is also the largest city near the ancient site of Troy. We will visit Troy the pivot of Homer's Iliad and the site of the decade-long Trojan War. We will take a tour of the site known as Hisarlick, where we will view a defensive wall, two sanctuaries from the 8th century, houses from various periods, a Roman Theater and the Pillar House, thought to be the palace of King Priam. We will also view the Trojan Horse, which is a reconstruction of the device used by the Greeks to deceive and ultimately vanquish the Trojans.

For the next one night, our base will be in Canakkale (area). While here, breakfast and dinner will be provided at the hotel.

We will cross through the Dardanelles Strait by ferry and drive along the Sea of Marmara coast to return to Istanbul for our final evening.

On arrival in Istanbul, enjoy a boat trip on either the Bosphorus or Istanbul Strait.

Enjoy the final meal with your group.

This evening we make the final entries in our Reflection Journal and share some of the most significant observations and perspectives that have taken shape in the course of our cultural immersion experience and religion tour in Türkiye and how these may be most relevant for us all as we return home.

Our rewarding and enjoyable faith-based study tour comes to an end as our Tour Director accompanies us to the airport on our final day.