Day 9 – June 21 – Izmir to Sardis, Philadelphia, Hierapolis (Laodicea)
Another beautiful day dawned. We had another big day ahead of us. The breakfast at the Doubletree Hotel at Izmir was about as good as any have been. Omar, our wonderful Turkish guide, seems to think that due to Ramadan, the Hotel may have laid out a better spread to cater for its many Muslim guests who would need to eat a hearty breakfast to see them all through the day. In any case, we benefitted.
We were packed into our bus by 8:30am and on the road, heading east to the site of the ancient civilization at Sardis, which goes back to the 13th century BC, and where, according to Revelation chapter 3, a small church existed in the 1st century. The Turkish countryside is stunningly beautiful. We travelled through a large plain which was very much covered with vegetable gardens and small farms, lined with some of the most amazingly beautiful mountains on both sides of us in to the far distance. After an hour or so, we arrived at the ancient ruins of Sardis.
Looming high above us on top of the 1770m Mt Tmolus, was the clear remains of the original acropolis, basically a fortress structure which contained houses and meeting places and places of worship. We were clearly not going up – the mountain was deteriorating. But history indicates that the Persian army, which could not penetrate the acropolis due to its sheer height and advantage that it gave, observed a soldier one night drop his helmet over the side and then go to retrieve it by a hidden path. That night the Persians infiltrated the defense of the Sardis acropolis and defeated the army inside, which was taken by surprise.
We inspected the ancient ruins of the lower town, which were amazingly in good condition in parts, but which gave indication of what life was like. It was incredible to walk through a Jewish Temple which was very central to the old town, which is not usual.
The photos in the blog attached to this page are the best way to see for yourself. We never cease to be amazed how such enormous structures can be built without the use of mechanical means to life such huge weights. At the Temple to the Goddess Diana, the very tall columns were a series of granite/marble circular blocks one on top of the other, but each one a fraction smaller in diameter than the other. They were perfectly made with immaculate precision, each one stuck together by molten lead in a hole at the centre of each block.
The church at Sardis amazingly survived if not thrived for many centuries, with some members attending the crucial Council of Nicea in 325AD which settled aspects of Church doctrine, the Christian Creeds and also the Canon of Scripture.
We moved on further inland and a little south to the town of Alasehir, to the small remains in the middle of the town of the original civilization of Philadelphia, where according to Revelation chapter 3, another small Christian community was formed in the 1st century. From the Greek, Philadelphia literally means ‘brotherly love’, and is believed to have been named after Eumenes, the King of Pergamum who is believed to have founded Philadelphia in the 2nd century BC, in memory of his twin brother Attalus. We visited what remains of the once beautiful Basilika of St John the Apostle, which are mere ruins in the centre of this thriving town.
It was lunch time, so we all blessed one of the Turkish restaurants with our business, being treated to authentic Turkish pizza or Turkish Kebabs. It was quite a delicacy especially combined with Turkish hospitality, entrees and Turkish tea with which to wash it all down.
We headed further south east to the town of Eskihisar, but which has the remains of the famous city of Laodicea resting and currently still being unearthed on a hillside looking over the modern town. In Christian terms, Laodicea is more oft mentioned and preached about due to the now famous words of Jesus to the church (Revelation chapter 3) “You are neither hot nor cold, but lukewarm”. This was the strongest of the criticisms of Jesus to any of the seven churches in Revelation. Their Christianity was tepid, a play on the fact that the Roman aqueduct bringing boiling hot water from the thermal springs near Hierapolis had become lukewarm by the time it reached Laodicea.
The church community was formed here during St Paul’s lengthy stay at Ephesus (we visit tomorrow)on his 3rd missionary journey. The site sat on a high hill above the current town, but by no means a mountain top, although the views across to the far mountains and across the beautiful valleys were quite spellbounding.
Laodicea is an archeological work in progress. It was a very rich city in its day. The people were pleasure seekers, evidenced by the extent of luxury homes (evidence of), bath houses , luxurious temples to numerous gods and goddesses, and two theatres built into the hillsides which between them could have accommodated some 25,000 people at a time.
Again we were amazed at the intricate marble carvings at the top and bottom of the hundreds of marble columns. The work was so delicate, detailed and ornate it was hard to imagine that these were made all by the skilled hands of craftsmen.
It was a very hot day again. As has been our practice everyday, we huddled under a small piece of canvass covering an archeologists working table (it was Sunday and Ramadan so no one was working) for our devotional reflection for the day – the challenge to be like the Laodiceans – lukewarm in our Christianity.
Just when we thought it was time to drive to our Hotel for the evening (it was now past 5pm), Omar had one more stop for us. Our Hotel was on the hillside at nearby Hierapolis, but Hierapolis is famous for its natural hot thermal springs, and its mountain of pure white calcium, which as we arrived stood high above us like a snow covered mountain. At its base was something akin to a beautiful lake, with people swimming and boat paddling, enjoying the Sunday Ramadan holiday. We walked the length of it – Omar just wanted to give us a ‘taste’ – we return here first thing tomorrow.
We were pleased to arrive at our lovely Hotel, which had at its centre its own thermal swimming pool which was hotter than an evening bath, plus other pools. Our room had balcony overlooking the pools, where after dinner we had a balcony view of the Turkish belly dancer performing for about an hour poolside late into the evening. Naturally, there was a crowd at poolside, with some of our number making the mistake of sitting at a table too close – she chose one of that number to help her with her belly dance – something I am sure he will never live down (and probably never regret either!).
It was another great day that ended with another sumptuous meal. Tomorrow we re-visit the calcium mountain and thermal pools of Hierapolis, and then the magnificent Basilika of St John the Apostle.
Until then…..
KRA
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