A juice vendor (left) in Pamukkele, wearing a hijab, a tra- ditional Muslim headscarf, displays an orange and pome- granate, locally grown fruits she will squeeze to create a fruit juice blend popular in Turkey. The interior of the Hagia Sophia (center) in Istanbul displays both Christian and Islamic symbols, reminders of the two religions that wor- shiped in the magnificent sixth century structure. Hadrian’s Temple, a Roman ruin in the ancient city of Ephesus.
architecture, mosaics and marble, the Hagia Sophia was altered repeatedly and often violently over the ensuing 1,500 years, always in the name of religion. It was the seat of the Orthodox patriarchy in Constantinople, except in 1204 when Crusaders of Western Europe controlled the city. They plundered the city and church, ousted the Ortho- dox patriarch and replaced him with a Latin bishop, until the Byzantines recaptured the city in 1261. Then came the Ottoman Turks. In 1453, Sultan Mehmet the Conqueror stormed the city, took over the church and turned it into his imperial mosque. Many of the splendid mosaics were plastered over, Islamic sym- bols were added and the Hagia Sophia served as a mosque for 500 years. In 1934, Turkish President Kemal Ataturk secularized the building and turned it into the Hagia Sophia Museum. Now Christians and Muslims alike can ponder the vio- lence their own religion perpetrated on it. But how do you go from pondering history in polished museums to picking your way through the ruins of ancient civilizations? By bus.
The tour left Istanbul, which is in the northwest corner
of Turkey, and headed south along the Aegean on the country’s west coast. The itinerary wound through Troy and Ephesus on the Aegean coast, then inland to Pamuk- kele and south to Antalya on the Mediterranean with a visit there to Perge, and then a flight back to Istanbul. Each site was different, but so was the first destination. It was a different continent. A few hours out of Istanbul we boarded a ferry and crossed the Dardanelles, another straight, traveling from Europe to Asia Minor but remain- ing in the same country. With that breezy, half-hour voyage I learned that 97 percent of Turkey lies in Asia Minor, usually referred to as Anatolia; and 3 percent—the western half of Istanbul on up to the Greek and Bulgarian borders—is in Europe.
Talking Turkey
As we traveled, tour guide Ziya, an ethnic Kurd, supplied some facts about Turkey. • Population: 75 million, equally divided gender-wise, with 70 percent under the age of 40. Istanbul alone has 14 million people. Twenty different ethnic groups live in Tur-
key, including Kurds, Persians (Iranians) and Assyrians (Iraqis). The population is 75 percent urban, 25 percent rural. Unemployment is around 11 percent, but there is no unemployment insurance. “Families help each other,’’ Ziya said. • Government: Turkey has a secular government with a multiparty democratic system. Elections are held every five years and all citizens 18 and over are eligible to vote and run for office. There is no jury system. A council of judges decides cases. Turkey has abolished capital punish- ment and does not recognize Sharia (Islamic) law. • Religion: 99 percent of Turks are Muslims—80 percent Sunni, 20 percent Shiite. The call to prayer is broadcast five times a day from loudspeakers mounted on the mina- rets of local mosques.
Ziya estimates that 25 percent to 30 percent of Turks pray five times daily and 50 percent to 60 percent fast dur- ing Ramadan. Fewer than half the women we saw covered their heads.
Each site on the itinerary had at least one outstanding feature. In Troy it was a big wooden horse standing in the parking lot. Perge, where Paul preached his first sermon, was founded by the Hittites around 1500 B.C. and became part of the Roman Empire in 188 B.C. Still pretty intact and worth seeing.
Pamukkele, which means cotton mountain, sits on ther- mal springs that have formed a white mountain of mineral deposits. Nearby is Hieropolis, a Roman spa city that was visible but inaccessible. Great for hot mineral baths, not so much for history.
Ephesus was the hands-down highlight. This incred- ibly well preserved city dates back at least to 1400 B.C. By the time Paul set his sandals there in A.D. 43 it was the cultural center of Anatolia with a sophisticated, polythe- istic population that worshiped a succession of Greek and Roman gods. Against these odds Paul lived and preached in Ephesus for more than two years, winning converts and starting a church. He wrote his letters to the Ephesians from jail in Rome before he was beheaded. Though I arrived in Ephesus hoping for “Christian
sites,’’ the closest I came was Mary’s House. This simple stone structure in the hills above Ephesus is where John is believed to have taken Jesus’ mother to spend her final years. The evidence for this is largely anecdotal. What matters is the unassailable evidence: that the seeds of Christianity sown in Ephesus sprouted in the soil of pagan temples; that they grew and thrived over the past 2,000 years; that Christianity, with 2.1 billion followers, is the world’s largest religion.
That kind of evidence is a trip in itself. May 2013 17
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52