Tarsus is a modern city built over the ancient city where the apostle Paul was born. When we visited, we found four stops that helped us picture its history: an excavated Roman road, the Tarsus Museum, a site traditionally associated with Daniel, and Paul’s Well. I’ve included our photographs and a map link for each place. The first four stops are in Tarsus. At the end, there’s a bonus artifact from Tarsus that we saw in Istanbul. 1. The ancient road in Tarsus The excavated road in Tarsus. Find the ancient road on Google Maps . It runs beside the Tarsus Museum, so it makes sense to see these two places together. We could see the excavated area around the road and the basalt paving. It was discovered during a modern construction project, and ancient drainage runs beneath it. Standing here gave us a glimpse of the city Paul knew, although we cannot know whether he walked on this particular stretch. 2. Tarsus Museum Find the Tarsus Museum on Google Maps . We enjoyed seeing objects f...

After going to Cappadocia many times, we have found that the best time of day to see Cappadocia in Turkey is at sunrise when the balloons are just rising. The trick is that the wind must be less than 7mph for this to happen. The best time of day is about 30 minutes before sunrise while it is still dark and the balloons are just firing up. Their plan is to take the tourists up so that they can watch the sun rise over Cappadocia. The Best Time of Day and Place The truth is that you don’t need to spend $300 or more to go up in a balloon yourself. There is a nice high cliff here at the edge of the city where you can watch them from the comfort of gold old terra firma. We recently went, and didn’t even need to be on that cliff. See the video below for the view from the patio of the hotel down in the valley where they launch. The time is just before sunrise when the balloons are starting to fire up. The Top Reasons to Visit Early in the Morning When it comes to seeing the fairy tale landsc...

Mount Ararat is probably one of the most remote places you can visit in Eastern Turkey. When visiting this place, we used the city of Doğubeyazıt as our home base since it has nice hotels and restaurants.  After being in Turkey for 5 years, I have to say that this area not only has significant sites for believers in the Bible, but some of the oldest history. The bonus is that Doğubeyazıt has delicious food and some cool, quirky sites to visit as well.  Here I want to share with you things that you MUST know and see if you can make it this far into eastern Turkey with the goal of visiting Mount Ararat. Interestingly, Jehovah started life in this area twice! Once in the Garden of Eden and second from Mount Ararat. I wrote another blog about our visit to the nearby possible location of the Garden of Eden here . Mount Ararat sits on the borders of Turkey, Iran and Armenia. It is located just North East of Lake Van, Turkey. Just to borrow a map from the old green Bible, here is it...

This is the city where the name “Christians” came from. It is a city rich with history and I would like to present to you the 3 best things to see in Antakya to really experience it. Most Bible readers refer to it as Syrian Antioch. We were just 5 miles from the Syrian border, so we were a little nervous. However there was really nothing to worry about. There are amazing things to see here both new and old and list all of them below. Enjoy. 1. The Church of St Peter (Saint Pierre Kilisesi) Where is it located? This “church” is actually a cave. It is located here. It was carved into the mountain of Haç ( translation: ‘Mountain of the Cross’). Much like the early Christian history of Cappadocia, Christians met in caves. As Christendom does with most Christian sites, they built a church on it. A little disappointing, but expected. To really see the cave, you must go inside the church. Was this really where the 1st century Christians met? There is no exact way to know. The assumption is b...

Cappadocia is the most surreal sight you will see in Turkey. But even more interesting is it’s very early Christian history. This was a pivotal place where Christianity accepted the trinity doctrine and became part of the political world. Something Jesus had warned about. I want to share this with you how this region, buzzing with true Christians in the first century, witnessed the fall of Christianity in Cappadocia. It started with the rise of the trinity doctrine, the melding of the political world and Christianity, and the worship of imagery. I present it here in a timeline. Enjoy. 700 BC Jews in Cappadocia For the first time in the Bible we read about this region as the Land of Tubal at Isaiah 66:19. Many historians believe this refers the region of Cappadocia * . An early Jewish establishment would form the base of Jewish Christians that were to emerge in the first century. Here is a map showing the likely location of Tubal as known to the Hebrew nation of Israel. 33 CE Christian...

We stopped at Aizanoi on the drive back to our home in Konya. This ancient city sits in and around the present-day town of Çavdarhisar, and walking through both the archaeological area and the town was part of the appeal for us. The bridge, the Temple of Zeus and the stonework scattered among the houses made the detour memorable. Our quick take: Go for the remarkably preserved temple and the pleasure of finding ancient remains throughout a living town. Allow time to walk beyond the temple. Check current opening hours, admission and access before you travel; our notes describe what we saw on our visit. Where is Aizanoi? Aizanoi is at modern Çavdarhisar in western Turkey. Here is the location of Aizanoi on Google Maps . We visited while travelling back toward Konya . If you are making a similar road trip, check the route and site access before setting out. 1. Walk across the old bridge The bridge over the Penkalas River was one of the first things that caught our attention. I liked...

Thyatira is our last visit to the seven congregations of Revelation. I want to show you some amazing parallels between what is written in the Bible about Thyatira and the artifacts that come from this city. First I will show you a connection between the message to the Christians in Thyatira from the Bible book of Revelation. I will also show you evidence of the deep connection between the Bible character of Lydia and this city. Let’s start. “I will refine you like copper.” Revelation 2:18: To the angel of the congregation in Thyatira write: These are the things that the Son of God says, the one who has eyes like a fiery flame and whose feet are like fine copper. New World Translation – Study Bible Jesus used metaphors that people could relate to. Thyatira is no exception. Thyatira was a center for manufacuring. This is revealed in the coins minted in Thyatira. For example, they reveal that it had many trade guilds such as tanners, leather workers, linen workers and coppersmiths. I...