Smyrna, Turkey - Pictures of an Ancient City

On our road trip to see the seven congregations of Revelation, we just had to stop at ancient Smyrna in Turkey. We had just come Ephesus so our expectations were pretty high.

We were told that there is not much to see here. True? Maybe. But hey, who would only go to 6 of the 7 congregations, right?

Where is ancient Smyrna, Turkey located?

Right in the heart of modern day Izmir. Nearly all of the ancient city has a modern city built on top of it. So what we saw was only a small section that was excavated. And this excavation is very beautiful . On Google Maps it is located right here.

The ruins of Smyrna are right in the middle of the city of Izmir, Turkey

The hardest part about this trip was navigating in the crazy downtown traffic and trying to find a parking space. Therefore let me make your life easier. There is a parking garage right here beside the entrance. It will cost a few Turkish Lira, but it is so worth it.

Location in Proximity to Cities of Christianity

When calculating the journey from each city, I take into account how much time it would have taken to walk between them. I estimate on the basis that a person can walk up to 25 miles per day.

Smyrna to:

Ephesus – 49 miles (65 kilometers) 2 days walking
Pergamum – 69 miles (112 kilometers) 2.5 days walking
Thyatira – 55 miles (89 kilometers) 2 days walking
Sardis – 55 miles (89 kilometers) 2 days walking
Philadelphia – 85 miles (137 kilometers) 2.5 days walking
Laodicea – 151 miles (243 kilometers) 6 days walking
Colossae – 154 miles (247 kilometers) 6 days walking

A more detailed map can be found on Wikipedia here.

The ruins

The ancient city was mostly underground. As a results it had long streets with beautiful archways.

Dogs cooling themselves in the small waterway running the length of streets.

These streets were underground and you descent by a staircase to get to them. Here are some pics looking down on them.

It’s not possible to pinpoint ruins that connect to the Bible. This might be possible if more excavation happens in the future.

We spent about an hour here and felt satisfied.

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