7 Churches Tour- Colossae, Hieropolis, Pamukkale

Last week I had the opportunity to travel with a tour company to visit the 7 churches of the Revelation. This was supposed to be the first post detailing the trip, but somehow it did not publish. Whoops.

Monday morning I woke up very early to meet my tour company, Anatiolian Tours, at Kent Park mall to begin the adventure of visiting the 7 Churches of the Revelation. In the book of Revelation, John is instructed to write to 7 groups of believers in 7 different cities. They all just so happen to be in Turkey! Every day that I am here in Turkey, I become more and more aware of all of the major events that happened in this country, not just in Christian history but in world history.

Day 1 of the trip actually did not involve visiting any of the 7 churches. We drove from Ankara to Pamukkale and visited the cities of Colossae and Hieropolis, along with the natural, limestone formed Hot Springs in Pamukkale. Colossae, the city that the book of Colossians was written to, has not been excavated yet. Instead, the build up of silt and dirt have covered the acropolis in a large mound. Only a few pieces are visible. The only major building that you can see the shape of is the theater. I had no idea that there are still sites that have not been excavated yet. I just assumed that the heyday of archaeology in the early 1900s had found and excavated everything. However, as you will see on this trip with me, many things are being discovered every year. Colossae has not been excavated yet because the Turkish government does not see enough significance of the city's importance to have a group come in and spend all that time and money on an insignificant city, as not much is known about Colossae except for the fact that a book in the Bible is named after it. I have a feeling that eventually it will be excavated, which then I will have to go back to see the city as it would have been. But, even with it just being a mound, it was peaceful with the orchards surrounding it and the mountains in the distance. Note: Anywhere you go in Turkey, expect to see mountains on the horizon. Many have snow on the tops for the majority of the year. Turkey seems to be plains surrounded by hills repeated over and over until you reach a coast line, then it is beach with mountains in the distance. OK, maybe not mountains, but very large hills. Philemon, his slave, Onesimus, and Epaphras, who was in jail with Paul in Rome, were all from Colossae. Paul actually never visited Colossae, but wrote to encourage them none the less.

This trip is giving me a new appreciation for archaeologists. I look at the mound that would have been the acropolis in Colossae and know that every single city now excavated used to look like this. Where do you even begin to dig in such a vast area? How can you piece together small shards of pottery to recreate vases? How do you fit pieces of stone together to rebuild pillars? How do you not destroy what is underneath you as you are digging? It is definitely a long, tedious, and rewarding process.

The city of Hieropolis and the natural pools of Pamukkale make up a UNESCO world heritage site. Hieropolis is not one of the 7 churches mentioned in the Book of Revelation, but there was a group of believers in Hieropolis that is mentioned in the Bible in Paul’s letters to the Colossians. It is a massive city acropolis with temples spread across the hillside. Their theater is one of the best excavated theaters in the world. It is in the hillside and is VERY steep. But it is absolutely stunning,  and the view that it offers of the distant hills is beautiful. One of the Philips, either the apostle or the one who ministered to the Ethiopian, was stoned in Hieropolis after preaching the Gospel to the people of Hieropolis. A few hundred years later, a church,  was built in his honor. Everyone believed that Philip was also buried somewhere in the city of Hieropolis, but his tomb was not located until 2011. Just down the hill from the church there is a tomb that has the name Philip on it. See? Things in history are still being found. They are still doing restoration work on the chapel and tomb. History is still being unearthed!

We then got to walk in the natural hot spring pools of Pamukkale and taste the mineral water from its source. The water tasted like a rock, but it is very good for you as it has so many important nutrients in it. Walking in the pools was something I have been looking forward to doing ever since I came to Turkey. It is one of the most amazing natural beauties I have ever seen. God is certainly creative as he forms each of these unique places.

We then walked through the Necropolis of Hieropolis, which is where all of the rich citizens would have been buried if they were not cremated, which was the more popular thing to do. The most important citizens had huge house like dwellings while others just had a sarcophagus. There was a large Jewish sect in Hieropolis as well with many rich Jewish tombs. While walking through the Necropolis, the sky was absolutely breathtaking. So I took many MANY photos. It was a wonderful day 1.