Turkey!

Well quite a lot has happened. I was in Turkey for a week and it really is a best kept secret as far as tourist attractions go. At least I didn't fully realize all these things happened here. All the large historic mosques are very interesting - Troy the ancient city is there - Nicea is found here - and many, many new testament events happened there with the apostle Paul. 

The first day there we were in Istanbul. First named Byzantium, when Constantine made it the Roman capital due to it's significant position as a trade route. Then either before or after his death (I heard both) the city's name changed to Constantinople to honor his name. Which later was just referred to as "The City" due to its preeminence which in Turkish is Istanbul.  Our hotel was named the Cartoon Hotel so of course there were Disney statues and pictures throughout the place- My room mate for the entire trip was a man named Kaleb Valdez who I found out is a very cool guy. 

Our tour guide Fatih was amazing and also funny - his wealth of knowledge is impressive to say the least.We went first to the Hippodrome which is a plaza near the Blue Mosque, the Great Palace, and the Hagia Sophia - there in the hippodrome was two obelisks and a pillar. The Blue Mosque which was amazing! There was some blue tile for sure which gives reason for it's nickname, mostly impressive are the domes in any of the mosques we went to. We had to take off our shoes to go inside and I happened to meet another Mormon coming out who was impressed by our BYU group of 82.

We also went that day to the Palace which was also the Political Buildings of it's time. There were a variety of rooms, buildings, tiling, minarets, and architecture. I took many pictures of ceilings and walls as well as outside buildings. It doubles as a museum itself so I saw the clothing through the ages of the sultans. Also I saw the spoon makers diamond. I went to the Harem section of the Palace (Harem meaning Forbidden) which was the residence of the later sultans before their Ottoman empire fell. There are some personal quarters there which were interesting to see.

Also we went to the Grand Bazaar which was crazy and I maintained my head for most of it but I did by a few souvenirs there. Everywhere we would see the Turkish evil eye which is a good luck charm there - I mean it literally was everywhere. Now the rest of the night we took a ferry down the Bosphorus. 

That night a group went out to the city in the Taksim Square and I bought some Baklivah which was amazing it's basically a sugary pastry with nuts on the inside we walked down this street and went for a while till we found a candy shop which sold some candies among them Turkish delight (I hear in it's true form it's like Jellies surrounded by powdered sugar) they were really good. 

The next day we were able to tour the ruins of Ancient Troy. There was a constructed Trojan horse and was a very interesting site to see. I remember seeing a cave where apparently Hector was buried or killed. However the archaeology does not match up with the story of the Iliad totally. And that night we had a very nice hotel with a pool and beach side access. The pool was cool and very nice to get into - you better believe that nearly the entire group was in that pool after a long bus ride. We played some pool games I got my feet in the water of the Mediterranean Sea. That night we had a bonfire and dance it was super fun.

The next day our first stop was Assos (Acts 20:13-14) there was a temple to a Greek god there. I was walking up steep roads of cobblestone to get to the ruins and I was thinking. This is supposed to be a port city? I just don't see it. But once you get to the top and see the view you can understand. The view is amazing and the sea is just there. On our way down many people stopped at the shops to see what was there and probably there was the best prices for little trinkets and rememberances here than any where else

Next that day was Pergamum which was an amazing site. There was a gondala there to take us up and down. The view was spectacular. It was here that we were introduced to a character named Trajan - there was a temple to his name there in Pergamum. He is an important figure as he and his sons were leading figures in the building of great Greek cities all through the coast of what is now Turkey. It was raining alright there and I laughed a bit when looking over the temple of Zeus I saw three lightning bolts all in a row very picturesque and fitting. We also breifly saw the theater there but it was too slippery and nearing a hail storm so we didn't go down into it. Also Pergamum is one of the seven churches of Revelations which of course simply means the seven regions of Christianity at that time which were in working order.

The following day our first stop was in Ephesus (Acts 19 and the first verse of Acts 20) which was amazing I felt like they could actually make it a fully functioning city pretty quick with how many ruins are there. Just put some roofs up basically and you'd be fine. There were many ruins of fountains there (however they were empty as the statues had been taken away to museums), as well as many remnants of clay piping. We went to the theater there where a new testament event occurred Acts 19:24-41. There in the theater we were blessed to hear a Japanese man perform opera. Then we acted out the parts in Acts that happened there with most of the group being the mob who were shouting praises to Diana of Ephesians and wanting to kill Paul. Naturally that was memorable and a testimony that one need not be a member of the church of Christ to be a tool in his hand. One of my favorite buildings there was the Library and in front 4 statues which symbolize four words. Our Tour guide Fatih gave us his interpretation of what they were trying to say - "If Wisdom is Virtue Then Knowledge is Power".

Next was Miletus - a site literally with weed over run ruins and archaeologists on site. We walked on the tops of walled stones to get to our destination there. There was a large bath house there fully equipped in its day with hot water. It was a tender scene here portrayed in the new testament Acts 20:15-38. Paul bids his final farewell and warning to the bishops of the area including those elders from Ephesus. That night we stayed in a hotel with a hot spring water bath with a volcano fountain in the middle which had the water shooting out of it.

The next day we began with Hierapolis (meaning holy city) it's hot springs were thought of as having healing powers and the properties of this particular water creates a white cliffs and pools. It looked as if it had just snowed for seven days but it was solid rock. The pools were fed by a trench of hot water. So you can expect as the pools went further down the colder and colder they got. There was an amazing theater there as well along with the Necropolis which is the biggest ancient surviving graveyard site (Three kinds of graves).

We had a small stop at what remains of a basilica in Thyatira which city Lydia the seller of purple is from and it is one of the cities of the seven in Revelations. Then in the evening we went to the basement of our hotel and had a wonderful church service. The days get all jumbled in my mind but that was a Friday night if I am not mistaken.

The next day our first stop was at the Grand Mosque which has 20 domes on top. It's middle dome is made of glass with a fountain below it. We took a quick stop at the market there. After a small drive we went to the ruins of Nicea which is of course the foundation stones of Creedal Christianity where bishops of the church decided the official doctrines on certain points by way of a vote. As I learned this act and attitude had more of a devising effect in its day than a unifying one than I had thought. And I learned there were 7 other such councils. As it relates to Nicea the debate was over whether Jesus was similar to God or if Jesus was the same substance as God. In my mission I found more Chirstians who agreed with the first than who agreed with the second and I think this is generally true - but in this council the second was agreed by men to be true. Anyways the suspected site of the council is well under a lake now and there certainly aren't any visible pillars celebrating the site. To think of all those ancient christians debating in their sincere desire to follow god - makes the site venerable to me.

The last site of the trip was Hagia Sophia. You enter the building and go through the main room it's clear to you that you can easily fit another large church or two inside just that main room. It has mosiacs from many periods in varying degrees of quality, near the arches on the top there are four seraphim, the whole building is magnificent and large. Afterwards we had another Turkish sweet goat milk ice cream it was very good. The flight back to Jerusalem happened without event and it was simply a wonderful experience!

Have a great one!

Check out a teacher's blog for pictures!
http://huntsmansintheholyland.blogspot.com/p/turkey-fall-2011.html