The Purcells: Grandpa and Grandma Part 2: The Seven Churches

Nathan and his parents took a guided trip in western Turkey to visit the 7 Churches from early Christianity. The Book of Revelation addresses 7 letters sent to 7 churches in Asia Minor (modern day Turkey). Each letter, as proclaimed by Jesus, and recorded by John the Apostle, declares the triumphs and failings of the churches and warns each congregation to repent. The churches are: Pergamum, Thyatira, Sardis, Philadelphia, Laodicea, Ephesus, and Smyrna. Early one morning, they flew from Ankara to Izmir and met their tour guide at the airport to set off for the 3 day journey.

The 7 Churches

The first stop on their tour was Saint Polycarp Church, which was a 19th Century church and the oldest church in the city. The church was named after Saint Polycarp, th first bishop of Smyrna who was burned at the stake.

The second stop was to see the Church of Pergamon, which was the capital of the Pergamon Kingdom from 281-133BC and one of the cultural centers of the Greek world. Before seeing the church, they visited the Pergamon Acropolis.

The Temple of Trajan was constructed under the Roman Emperor Trajan and completed under Roman Emperor Hadrian, and was the cult of both rulers and Zeus.

More views from Pergamon with views of the acropolis, Roman city, sanctuary, and archeological museum.

The second church on the tour was Kızılavlu, which means Red Basilica, also in Pergamon.

The next stop on the trip was to visit the 3rd church of Thyateira, which is now the modern day town of Akhisar meaning ‘white castle.’ The longest of all the letters Paul wrote to the churches was here, but it is the church that is least known about.

The next stop to see the 4th church on the tour was Sardis. Sardis is believed to have been occupied from as early as 1400BC, and flourished between the 7th century BC and 7th century AD, undergoing occupation from the Persians, Greeks, and Romans. It is believed that God sent news to the 7 churches in Anatolia through angels and announced that the value would be lost on the Day of Judgment.

This is remnants of the Havra Synagoge, which was the center of a prosperous Jewish community during the late antiquity. It was discovered in 1962 and is the largest known synagogue of the Diaspora period.

Temple of Artemis at Sardis is the fourth largest Ionic temple in the world, sitting on the slopes of the Acropolis. The date of the altar is unknown, but it is believed to have predated the temple structure. The temple originally had 20 columns and by 1907 only 2 remained, and the temple was buried by ten meters of earth until it was excavated between 1910-1914.

After a long day of touring, they settled in for the night in Alaşehir. The first stop on day 2 day was to visit the 5th church at Philadelphia, also part of the Kingdom of Pergamon. Philadelphia means ‘brotherly love.’ In the Book of Revelations, the Church of Philadelphia was promised a total exemption from temptation, and received nothing but praise from Christ.

The next stop on the trip was to visit the 6th church of Laodikeia, which was a Hellenistic settlement and later founded by the Seleucid King Antiochus II in the name of his wife Laodike. Laodikeia was believed to have been inhabited as early as 5500 BC. During the Roman period, it played a large role in sports, arts, culture, and commerce, then in 494AD it was destroyed in an earthquake and never fully recovered. The brightest part of its period was from the first to third, then fourth to sixth centuries AD, then it was conquered by the Turks in the thirteenth century. Pictures of the old city, which had the biggest stadium of Anatolia, two theaters, four baths, five agoras (markets), five fountains, two city gates, churches, and temples. This was Syria street, built between 84-85AD, and is one of the main streets of the city, crossing between two major gates from the west to the east of the city.

More views of the city and beautiful springtime flowers.

The Church of Laodikeia was discovered only in 2010 and was entirely excavated that same year. The layout of the church is considered an innovation in Christian history, walls of marble or frescos, mosaics, and the baptistery. The church was heavily damaged in the earthquake of 494AD, renovated, then completely collapsed in the earthquake in the early 600’s AD. Laodikeia became a center for Christian pilgrimage in the 4th century.

After a long day of touring, they traveled to the coast and spent the night in the scenic coastal city of Kuşadası.

The last day of the trip, they traveled to the small town on Seljuk, a small town near Ephesus, then visited the Virgin Mary’s house. It is believed that following Jesus’s crucifixion, Mary and the Apostle John came to Ephesus somewhere between 37 and 48 AD, where they spent the remaining days of their lives, and it is believed that Mary died here.

Next they visited the ancient city of Ephesus, which played a vital role in the spread of Christianity. In the first century AD, the Apostles Paul and John visited Ephesus and rebuked the Ephesians, and many people converted to Christianity. After 67AD, the Apostle John was preaching the gospel to the Ephesians and was often under threat by Emperor Domitianus. After multiple rescues by miracles, John was eventually exiled to the Island of Patmos, then he returned to Ephesus in 95 AD, where it is believed he wrote the Gospel of John and letters to the churches.

Within the city, the visited the theatre, famous Celsius Library, Serapis Temple, Hadrianus Temple, Trianus Fountain, Odeon and Agora, then see the ruins of St. John Church, which is the 7th and final church on the tour. The ‘Rhodian Peristyle’ altars and temples, dedicated to Caesar and the Goddess Roma or Artemis, believed to be build sometime between 27 BC and 14 AD. The Prytaneum was built in the same period and the building was the office of the city, leading to the government dignitary, and used for public banquets and honored individuals.

The Library of Celsus is considered an architectural marvel, is one of the only remaining examples of great libraries of the ancient world in the Roman Empire. It was the 3rd largest library in the Greco-Roman world believed to have held 12,000 scrolls. The library was commissioned in 114 AD by Tiberius Julius Acquila, built to commemorate his father, Tiberius Julius Celsus Polemaenus, who died that same year. Celsus was a prominent figure being a member of the Roman Senate and the proconsul of Ephesus and one of the richest businessmen in the the city. The library was completed in 117AD, and Celsus is buried in a crypt beneath the library.

Views of the ancient city

Colosseum

Main Roman roads

The ‘Gate of Persecution’ in the south of the city, is the most intact entrance.

Visiting the Church of St. John, the 7th and final church of the tour. Three hundred years after the death of the Apostle John, a small chapel was constructed over his grave in the 4th century, and the Church of St. John was changed into a basilica during the reign of Emperor Justinian in the 6th century.

The basilica, which contained the Apostle John’s grave, originally had a wooden roof. Due to the poor condition of the structure, in the 6th century Emperor Justinian and Queen Theodora constructed a six-domed church, which is considered one of the most impressive religious structures built after Artemis Temple in Ephesus. When Ephesus fell to the Turks in 1304, part of the church was converted to a mosque. The structure was leveled by a major earthquake around 1365. Excavations of this church began in the 1920s, and the buildings were restored between 1960-2006. Additional excavations of this area by Paumukkale University have been ongoing since 2007.