The Apostle and the Apocalypse: A
Pilgrimage to Greece and
Turkey
June 8-22, 2010
Hosted by Pastor Paul Elbert
Lord of Life Lutheran Church
Instruction by Dr. Brian Peterson
Professor of New Testament
Lutheran Theological Southern Seminary
You are invited to join us for this tour
Price from New York is $3895
Registration through MTS Travel: 800-418-2929 ext. 81307
Questions? Click here to e-mail
Dr. Peterson
TOUR ITINERARY:
(The links provided below are, of course, no substitute for exploring these
places in person. They are included here to give a small idea of what we will see on the
tour, and to help participants prepare for the adventure)
June 8 Leave U.S.A.
for Athens, Greece
June 9
Athens
After our morning arrival in Athens, we will visit the acropolis, Mars
Hill, and the National Museum.
Tonight we stay at the Divani Palace
Hotel
Information about
Greece
A
thumbnail history and guide to Greece
Current weather
in Athens
News from Greece
Greek foods
Map of Greece
Map of Athens
Virtual
tour of Athens
Acropolis Museum
National
Archaeological Museum
Photos from a
number of sites in Athens,
with historical descriptions. See the section
on Delphi too.
"Metis", from U
of Texas. Panoramas of
several cities we will be visiting, including
Athens, Corinth, Delphi, and Troy.
As Paul Tells It, a good introduction
to
Paul's life and letters, with information
at levels from "beginner" to "scholar."
"Paul's
Mission and Letters," from PBS
"Paul's
Congregations," from PBS
Introduction to Modern Greek
This site has audio and self-testing
features. Learn to say "Please," "Thank
you," and "Where is the hotel?"
June 10 Corinth
Walk the streets of this center of Paul’s ministry. Visit the forum
and shops of the ancient city, the temples to
Apollo and to the imperial cult, and the site’s small but excellent
museum. We will plan to have a short Eucharist
service in this ancient city, to which Paul wrote the New Testament’s
earliest account of the Lord's Supper
(1 Corinthians 11:23-26). We spend a second night at the Divani Palace Hotel in
Athens.
Archaeological Museum
at Corinth
Virtual tour of
Corinth
Information and photos from
Corinth
June 11 Delphi
Travel to the center of the ancient Greek world and the most famous oracle of Apollo. Walk the Sacred Way to the Athenian Treasury, see the temple of Apollo, and sit in the theater overlooking a stunningly beautiful mountain valley. We spend the night near the sea at Nafsika Palace Hotel.
Ancient Delphi
Archaeological Museum at
Delphi
June 12 Meteora
Climb the steep stairs to this series of monastic buildings perched atop a cluster of forbidding rock formations and visit the ancient buildings of this monastery. We will also be visiting the workshop of a modern iconographer in the area. We will spend the night at Divani Meteora Hotel.
Monasteries at Meteora
Meteora
June 13 Vergina & Thessalonika
We will stop at Vergina, the capital of the ancient Macedonian empire, and see the tomb of Phillip II, the father of Alexander the Great. We end the day in Thessalonika. This major modern city was also a major city in the first century, the Roman capital of Macedonia, and the half-way point on the important Via Egnatia. We will visit the ancient Roman forum, and the churches of Agios Demetrius and Agia Sophia. We'll spend the night at the Makedonia Palace Hotel.
Thessalonika pictures
Guide to Thessalonika
June 14 Philippi, Kavala, and Alexandropoulos
Begin today by visiting the wonderful archaeological museum in Thessalonika. Then we travel to Philippi along the route of the ancient Via Egnatia which Paul also used. Philippi was the the site of Paul’s first church in Greece. See the theater, the Roman forum, and two early Christian basilicas. Walk along the traditional "River of Lydia" where a beautiful Orthodox chapel has been built, the traditional place where Paul met Lydia and baptized her and her household. We will celebrate a short Affirmation of Baptism at this site. We will stop in Kavala, a beautiful city on the coast and the site of ancient Neapolis (Acts 16:11) where Paul first stepped into Europe. We spend our final night in Greece at Alexandropoulos in the Thraki Palace Hotel.
Thessalonika
Archaeological Museum
Information on
Philippi
Information on Philippi with
photos
Information on Kavala
June 15 Into
Turkey
Cross the international border into Turkey, and spend the night at Canakkale in the Kolin Hotel.
General information
about Turkey
Map
of Turkey
Timeline
of Turkish history
Turkish news
headlines
Turkish Culture
Info from
Turkish Tourism
Map
of New Testament sites in Turkey
Turkish words,
greetings, phrases
June 16
We begin the day with a visit to the ancient city of Troy. Following that, we
drive south to Pergamum.
In this city which was one of the 7 churches addressed in Revelation, as well as an ancient center of medicine
and
healing, walk through the acropolis with its huge temple to the emperor Trajan, descend the steps of the
ancient
world’s steepest theater, and visit the sanctuary of Asclepius with its famous medical school.
We will also
stop in Smyrna, another of the 7 churches of Revelation and the place of Bishop
Polycarp’s martyrdom in the
2nd
century, where we will visit the Roman forum. We will spend the night at
Richmond
Ephesus Resort.
"Apocalypse
Now," an article from Christianity Today (a good introduction to the book of Revelation)
History
and information about Pergamum
Information and photos of
Pergamum
Photos and info about Smyrna
June 17
Ephesus
Explore Ephesus, a major center of Paul’s ministry on the east side of the Aegean, as well as the first city addressed
in Revelation. Walk through spectacular Roman ruins and
visit the ancient Library of Celsus, the Temple of Domitian,
ancient private homes, the traditional home of the Virgin Mary, and the Church of St. John, built over the traditional
burial
site of the evangelist. We spend a second night at the Richmond Ephesus Resort.
History and
information about Ephesus
Photos and info about Ephesus
Ephesus virtual
panoramic tour
June 18 Miletus, Aphrodisias, Laodicea, and Hierapolis
We start the day in the ancient port city of Miletus, where Paul met with the elders of the church on his final trip to Jerusalem (Acts 20), and sit in the seats of its well-preserved theater. Then we travel to Aphrodisias, a well-preserved Roman city with a beautiful theater and stadium where we can get a better sense of what it was like to confess faith in Christ in the midst of the Roman Empire. We end the day by walking the hills of Laodicea, the "lukewarm" church of Revelation. We will also visit the better-preserved remains of nearby Hierapolis (Colossians 4:13). We spend the night at the Richmond Thermal Hotel.
Miletus
History and information about Miletus
History and information about Aphrodisias
Map, photos, & panoramas of Aphrodisias
Photos and info about Laodicea
Information and photos of Laodiceas
Information and photos of Hierapolis
June 19
Sardis, Bursa
At Sardis, another of the 7 churches of Revelation, see the temple of
Artemis, the largest ancient synagogue in the
world, and the reconstructed gymnasium with its imperial cult hall. We continue
to Bursa, where we will visit the Green
Mosque, the Green Tomb, and the Grand Mosque. We spend the night at the Almira
Hotel.
Photos and info about Sardis
Information about Bursa
June 20 Nicea, Istanbul
We begin by driving to Nicea, site of two important ecumenical councils in the ancient church. Then we continue to Istanbul, where we will visit the 6th century Hagia Sophia church. We spend the night at the Titanic City Hotel.
Nicea
National Geographic on Istanbul
About Istanbul
June 21 Istanbul
Visit some of this ancient and fascinating city’s important sites, including Topkapi Palace (seat of power for the Ottoman sultans for centuries), (the great church built by Justinian), the Blue Mosque, and the Roman Hippodrome, and the ancient Chora church. We will also see the archaeological museum and visit the Grand Bazaar, the largest covered bazaar in the world with over 5,500 shops. We spend a second night at the Titanic City Hotel.
Photos from
Istanbul
Hagia Sophia
Chora
Church
The
Blue Mosque
Topkapi Palace
June 22 Fly back to U.S.A.
Following breakfast, we board our flight for home, arriving at JFK airport late in the afternoon..
RECOMMENDED READING:
Eugene Boring. Revelation. Interpretation Commentary. John Knox Press,
1989.
Clyde Fant and Mitchell Reddish, A Guide to Biblical Sites in Greece and
Turkey. Oxford University Press, 2003.
John Dominic Crossan and Jonathan Reed, In Search of Paul.
HarperSanFrancisco, 2004.
Steven Friesen, Imperial Cults and the Apocalypse of John. Reading Revelation in the Ruins. Oxford University Press, 2001.
Craig R. Koester, Revelation and the End of All Things. Eerdmans, 2001.
Jerome Murphy-O'Connor, Paul. A Critical Life. Oxford University Press, 1996.
Walter Wangerin Jr., Paul, A Novel. Zondervan, 2000.
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