Not too old for a new adventure : The Seven Churches in Asia..right there

In the book of Revelation, Jesus sent messages to the seven churches in Asia
Rev 1:10-11 I was in the Spirit on the Lord's day, and I heard behind me a loud voice like a trumpet saying, "Write what you see in a book and send it to the seven churches, to Ephesus and to Smyrna and to Pergamum and to Thyatira and to Sardis and to Philadelphia and to Laodicea."

These seven churches are today in Turkey, on the West coast, right where we were! The city of Izmir, where we flew in and out, is on the site of the city of Smyrna. Thyatira is now Akhisar, near Istanbul. The ruins of Sardis, Philadelphia, Pergamum, Laodicea, and Ephesus have been excavated and are open to tours. Tarsus, the city that the Apostle Paul was from, is actually in Turkey, with a population of 3 million people at this time, but there are few ancients sites that have bee excavated there.

Pergamum is actually still a town, fully inhabited and operating. But, above the current town of Pergamum are the ruins of the ancient city of Pergamum, which dates back to 400BC at least, and which we were able to tour. Here are a few of the pictures I took. I just could not stop taking pictures. An ancient city that is mentioned in the Bible, a city where an early church gathered, was just so amazing.

Most of the ruins are on the top of a hill, but you can see that the city cascaded down the hill originally, and was home to around 200,000 occupants.

We are standing at the top of the amphitheater, which was very steep, and could seat 10,000 people.

The site is littered with remains from pillars, altars, other structures, many of which have intricate carvings and writing.

These pillars were incredible. I took pictures from a very close vantage point... because I didn't see the sign that said to not get on the wall because of danger of collapse. OOPS! But I did get some great pictures!