Friday, May 25

Road Map of Yalvaç / Kemer Region

Travelling west from Konya, we may stop off for a quick look at a rare mosque whose construction is of wood rather than the usual stone or brick.

Then we travel on to Yalvaç, Antioch in Pisidia, location of the Apostle Paul's first recorded sermon (in Acts 13).  The ruins of the ancient city include an amphitheater, the main road that loops around it, an ancient temple of Men, later dedicated to Augustus, and the site of history's first known successful labor strike!

Travelling further west from Yalvaç, we arrive near the old frontier between Lydia and Phrygia and begin our visits to the area of the seven churches of the Apocalypse.  The first city we reach is the seventh in John's order in Revelation 2-3, the city of Laodicea.  It lies in the same valley with Colossae and Hierapolis.

The ruins at Laodicea are in a very early state of excavation, but one can see both the amphitheater and the smaller boule, along with scattered rubble still lying on and beneath the ground.  From the higher points of Laodicea, one can see far across the valley to Pamukkale, the Cotton Castle, best known of the hundred or more hot springs in Turkey.  The evaporating waters of the spring have left behind beautiful white travertine terraces.

Overnight: Pamukkale