|
Come with me as we step back in time…and journey through the Lands of the Bible!
TOUR PRICE:
from Miami
$4,890, based on sharing a double room
Single Room Supplement: $490
This tour price reflects special group rates.
Deposits received after June 26, 2008, will likely incur
additional charges due to supplier contract terms.
$50 Early Bird discount if deposit is received by May 1, 2008!
TOUR PRICE INCLUDES:
- Round trip air fare from Miami
- Accommodations in four-star hotels, where available
- Breakfast and dinner daily
- Services of experienced, English-speaking licensed
guides
- Transportation in air-conditioned motorcoach
- Sightseeing and entrance fees
- Service charges and local taxes
- Porterage of one suitcase per person at hotels
- Airline taxes and fuel surcharges (currently $332;
subject to change)
- Tips to guides, drivers and hotel staff (approximately
$180)
Price does not include lunches and personal items.
ITINERARY:
Wednesday, October 1 Depart U.S.
Depart from Miami on a transatlantic flight, changing
planes in Paris.
Thursday, October 2 Istanbul, Turkey
Upon arrival at
Istanbul International
Airport, meet your professional
escort/guide
and transfer to your hotel
for room allocation
and some time at your
disposal to relax. Enjoy
an afternoon boat tour
along the Bosphorus,
visiting both the Asian and European shores of Istanbul.
Return to hotel for dinner and overnight.
Friday, October 3 Istanbul / Izmir / Kusadasi
Full day Istanbul
tour with your guide:
The Roman Hippodrome
Square; the Blue
Mosque with its beautiful
blue tiles; St. Sophia
Church, a World Heritage
site built by Constantine
the Great and
restored by Justinian in
the 6th century; and Topkapi Palace, the Imperial Residential
Palace of the Ottoman sultans between the 16th and
the 17th centuries. Topkapi is the oldest and largest palace
in the world and hosts priceless collections of jewelry,
porcelain and the sultans’ accoutrements. Reboard your
bus and transfer to the airport for your early evening flight from
Istanbul to Izmir, continuing to the hotel for room allocation
and some time to relax. Dinner and overnight in Kusadasi.
Saturday, October 4 Pergamos / Sardis /
Smyrna (Izmir) / Kusadasi
Depart early in the
morning, driving north
to visit one of the most
important cities of the
Seven Churches, Pergamos:
Rev. 2:12 – “And
to the angel of the church
in Pergamum write: ‘The
words of him who has the
sharp two-edged sword.’”
The origin of the city is unknown. When the Book of
Revelation was written, Pergamos was one of the capitals
of the Roman Province of Asia. Among the ruins are
the impressive Theatre built into the hillside with perfect
acoustics and seventy-eight rows of seats, the remains of
the Temple of Athena, the Famous Library, the Agora and
the Altar of Zeus.
Continue towards Sardis: Rev 3:1 – “And to the angel of
the church in Sardis write: ‘The words of him who has the seven
spirits of God and the seven stars. ‘I know your works; you have
the name of being alive, and you are dead.’”
Sardis was an impregnable city until it fell to Cyrus of
Persia in 546 BC. Alexander the Great founded the Temple
of Artemis in 334 BC and Herotodus tells that sheepskins
put in the river there trapped specks of gold, creating the
legend of the Golden Fleece. St.
John challenged the self-satisfaction
of this opulent city, saying that those
who win the victory will be clothed in
white.
The last city you will visit today
is Smyrna—Izmir, important because
the persecution of the Christians
began here. Rev 2:8 – “And to
the angel of the church in Smyrna write:
‘The words of the first and the last, who
died and came to life.”
Short orientation tour and visit of the Agora. Return to
Kusadasi for dinner and overnight.
Sunday, October 5 Ephesus
Ephesus: Acts 18.19 – “They arrived at Ephesus, where
Paul left Priscilla and Aquila. He himself went into the synagogue
and reasoned with the Jews. When they asked him to spend
more time with them, he declined.”
Paul visited Ephesus on his second missionary
journey, arriving with
Priscilla and Aquila.
During his third journey,
he lived in Ephesus for
three years, preaching
in the synagogue
and in the lecture hall.
His teaching appeared
threatening to the cult
of Artemis and those who made a living from it, and a riot
ensued.
Act 19.1-41 – “Paul entered the synagogue and spoke boldly
there for three months, arguing persuasively about the kingdom
of God.”
Visit the archaeological site which during the times of
Paul was the great Temple of Goddess Artemis. Visit St.
John’s Basilica built over the supposed burial place of
John the Apostle. An optional visit is also offered to the
House of Virgin Mary where tradition says that St. John
brought Mary to Ephesus after the death of Jesus. Return
to hotel for dinner and overnight.
Monday, October 6 Kusadasi / Patmos / Kusadasi
A day by boat and coach
to visit St. John’s famous
Island of the Apocalypse,
Patmos. Depart from
Kusadasi harbor after
breakfast, on the ferry
across the blue Aegean.
Upon arrival, transfer
by coach to the Cave of
Apocalypse. Located on
the small island’s highest hill, this is the traditional location
where John received the Book of Revelation. Retreat
to a quiet bay area on the rear of the island for reflection.
Return to Kusadasi for dinner and overnight.
Tuesday, October 7 Kusadasi / Samos
This morning transfer to the ancient seaport by the river Meander,
Miletus, where St. Paul passionately addressed the Ephesus Elders on the beach,
before sailing away to Jerusalem. Travel to Kusadasi port
and catch the Hydrofoil across the Aegean Sea to reach
Samos Island in one and a half hours’ time. Transfer to
your hotel for room allocation, dinner and overnight.
Wednesday, October 8 Samos / Athens, Greece
Morning flight from Samos to Athens. Upon arrival at
the airport, have a full-day guided tour of the city. See the
Roman Agora, where the largest building found measures
111 x 98 meters. It has an east Ionic propylon and a west
Doric propylon, known as the Gate of Athena Archegetis.
Stop at Mars Hill to see the rock where Paul addressed the
councilors and philosophers of the day. A short stairway
leads to the summit. See the Acropolis, built on a stunning
location, masterpiece
of classical Greek art,
with the Parthenon, the
Propylea, the Erechtheum
and the Temple
of Athena Nike. Ample
time will be at your
disposal to explore and
enjoy the views before
continuing to your hotel
for dinner and overnight.
Thursday, October 9 Athens/ Corinth / Ferry to Italy
Depart Athens soon after breakfast. Reach Corinth
and stop to learn the history of this famous man-made
construction, which is one of the seven wonders of the
modern world. Corinth is the place were Paul met Aquila
and Priscilla, who remained his good friends also during
his days in Rome.
Acts 18:1-4 – “After this, Paul left Athens and went to Corinth.
There he met a Jew named Aquila, a native of Pontus, who had
recently come from Italy with his wife Priscilla, because Claudius
had ordered all the Jews to leave Rome. Paul went to see them,
and because he was a tentmaker as they were, he stayed and
worked with them.”
Embark on the overnight ferry to Italy, with dinner and
overnight on board.
Friday, October 10 Bari / Pompei / Pozzuoli
Upon arrival in Bari,
meet your professional
Italian tour escort and
travel north to reach Pompei
after a drive of approximately
three hours. Meet
your local guide to have
an archaeological journey
through the ancient city.
Buried under a layer of ashes and lapilli by a sudden eruption
of Vesuvius in 79 A.D., after 1700 years the excavations
have brought to light Pompei, a town whose daily life
of the Imperial Age has been petrified, as under a spell, in
its gestures, secrets, in the panic felt by its inhabitants during
the last moments.
Visiting the “frozen city” would create a feeling similar
to that experienced by Paul when he walked through
similar streets from his time period. You will visit houses,
shops, temples, squares, streets and also the “Lupanare”
(house of prostitutes, with its frescos showing erotic
scenes), and the “Suburbane Therm” (with erotic frescos,
among which the only saffi co-picture of the Roman world).
So, you will understand the anger of Paul shouting
aloud against corruption and perdition of the Romans...
Romans 1: 26–27 – “For this cause God gave them up unto
vile affections: for even their women did change the natural use
into that which is against nature. And the males likewise gave
up natural relations with females and burned with lust for one
another.”
Reboard your bus and proceed towards the north
to reach Pozzuoli. You are in exactly the same location
where Paul landed.
“...and after one day the south wind blew, and we came the
next day to Puteoli.” Acts 28:13
You will have some time at leisure to relax at the hotel,
before moving to the center of the village.
 Visit the area of the seaport and the Roman Amphitheater
in order to get a sense of what Paul experienced once
he arrived on the mainland of the “Roman Empire.” Take
a break to taste a real Napolitano coffee or a pizza before
returning to your hotel for dinner and overnight.
Saturday, October 11 Minturno / Foro Appio /
Three Taverns / Preaeneste /
Rome
Depart Pozzuoli
soon after breakfast
and reach Minturno in
approx two hours. Stop
to visit the ruins of this
well-preserved Roman
village located along
the Appian Way, which
is the same spot that
St. Paul would have
seen during his trip
to Rome. Continue north, passing along the sites of Foro
Appio and Tres Tabernaes—Three Taverns, still on the
Appian Way.
Stop for lunch in Foro Appio, at “Mansio Hotel” which
is located in the same location as an ancient Roman
“posta” (place where travelers could rest and change their
tired horses before continuing their journey). This might
be the place where the Sacred Writings remind us of the
meeting of Paul with the Christian Communities.
Acts 28:14 – “And so we came to Rome. The brothers there
had heard that we were coming and they traveled as far as the
Forum of Appius and the Three Taverns to meet us.”
Reboard your bus and on the way to Rome, stop at
Three Taverns for a visit to the Church dedicated at Saint
Paul. Also stop in the city of Palestrina. Praeneste was
chiefly famed for its great Temple of Fortuna Primigenia,
connected with the oracle known as the Praenestine lots
(sortes praenestinae). The Temple included a spectacular
series of terraces, exedras and porticos on four levels
down the hillside, linked by monumental stairs and ramps.
The inspiration for this feat of unified urbanistic design
lay, not in republican Rome, but in the Hellenistic monarchies
of the eastern Mediterranean. This is the reason
why this temple can be related to those of Pergamus and
Ephesus. Among the three, the Prenestine one is the best
preserved, as its monumental remains were revealed only
in recent times, as a result of the American bombing of
German positions in World War II. Inside the museum, you
will learn more about the ancient habit of doing business in
the name of gods and goddesses, and you will understand
why the words of Paul caused the riot of Ephesus.
Acts 19:1-4 – “Men, you know we receive a good
income from this business. And you see and hear how this
fellow Paul has convinced and led astray large numbers of
people here in Ephesus and in practically the whole province
of Asia. He says that man-made gods are no gods at
all.”
Continue towards Rome where you will arrive in
approximately one hour’s time. Dinner and overnight in
Rome.
Sunday, October 12 Paul’s Rome
Today’s tour is a combination of the most interesting
sites which are linked with the life of the Apostle Paul in
Rome.
Insula di San Paolo alla Regola
Tradition has it that
Paul used to live in this
area during the years of
his first imprisonment. As
the majority of the people
living there, Paul worked
as a leather tanner. Here
Paul met with the first
Christians in Rome. This
area became known by
the name of “Contrada
Pauli” (Paul’s district). In a legal document of the year
1245, we find the words “In loco qui dicitur Pauli” (In that
place called “of Paul”). With the reconstruction of the
Constantinian Age, the walls were strengthened and one
story was filled with earth in order to protect the buildings
from the flood waters of the Tiber. After a period of use,
the buildings were abandoned and fell into ruin. In 366 AC,
Pope Damaso wanted to build a church over the ruins and
dedicated it to Saint Paul. Visiting the church, you will see
the oratory which has been created using the room where
Paul lived, and on the main beam you can read the following:
“This is the place where the Apostle Paul lived and
taught.”
Church of Santa Prisca
A second place which tradition says to have been
another site of Paul, is the church dedicated to Santa
Prisca on the Aventino Hill. Prisca came from a rich Roman
family and Aquila, her husband, was probably Greek.
Paul spent a couple of years with them in Corinth, and this
is often mentioned in his Letters and the Book of Acts (see
Romans 16:1–23 and Romans 16:3–5 and Acts 18: 1-3).
The House on the Aventino Hill where Paul lived is named
in a legal document of the 5th century, as “Titulus Priscae.”
Today it is possible to visit the church, where you can still
see the big Doric Capital used by Apostle Peter to baptize
Prisca.
Catacombs of San Sebastian
Located on the Ancient Appian Way, this is the place
where the bodies of Apostle Paul and Apostle Peter were
kept during the Christian persecution of Valeriano (253–
260 AC), which gave the first Christians the opportunity to
venerate the tombs of the two Apostles.  This is the reason
why this place is still today called Memoria Apostolorum.
To prove this, there is “grafitti” in Latin and Aramaic in
the catacombs and in the Basilica of San Sebastian, as
well. The Basilica itself was built
over the catacombs during the
“Constantinianum Peace” in the
name of the two Apostles.
Abbey of the Three Fountains
The place of Paul’s martyrdom,
where tradition has it that
three different springs gushed
out at each spot touched when
Paul’s head fell down.
St. Paul Outside The Walls
St. Paul Outside the Walls is a Benedictine Abbey
which shares its name, origins and centuries of history,
both joyful and sorrowful, with the adjoining basilica. Visit
the Basilica where the bones of Paul may have been
found, and you will leave Rome with the real spirit of first
Christians in your mind and in your Heart. Return to hotel
for dinner and overnight.
Monday, October 13 Ancient Rome / Early
Christian Churches
This morning you have a walking tour through the real
core of Ancient Rome. This tour will show you the great
“power” of Rome and Emperors who demanded divinity for
themselves, which was mainly what Paul preached against
in Roman 1:25.
Romans 1: 25 – “And worshipped and served the creature
more than the Creator, who is blessed for ever.”
From the Trajan’s
Column, jewel of architecture
and sculpture
made by Apollodorus of
Damascus, our guide
will show you along the
Via dei Fori Imperiali
(street of the Imperial
Fora), the ruins of
the fori that the great
emperors built as lasting memory of their power. You will
see the Forum of Trajan, the biggest and most splendid of
all, whose markets, true forerunners of the modern commercial
centers, offered to the Roman citizen any goods to
be found at that time. On foot you will reach the Capitoline
Hill , once political and religious center of the town, which
today is the seat of the Municipality. The stairway will lead
you to the Piazza del Campidoglio, the magnifi cent result
of a single project by Michelangelo, with a copy of the
most famous equestrian statue in the world, the statue of
Marcus Aurelius, in the middle. Behind Piazza del Campidoglio
you will find a natural terrace providing the best
panoramic point over the valley of the Roman Forum and
the Palatine Hill.
Walking through the valley of the Roman Forum, the
great Rome with its important buildings will revive before
your eyes; the Curia, seat of the Roman Senate, the State
Archive, the basilicas, palaces of justice, the temple of
Vesta, and the House of the Vestals, the virgins in charge
of keeping the sacred fire always alive, and all around
temples and columns and arches of triumph erected to
commemorate gods of Roman history.
Romans 1: 23 – “and changed the glory of the uncorruptible
God into an image made like to corruptible man.”
From the Forum the guide will show you to the place
linked to the fabulous origins of Rome: the Palatine. Here
Romolus founded the town in the year 753 B.C. and, starting
with Augustus, the great emperors settled here. From
the valley of the Roman Forum you will admire the Domus
Tiberiana, only partially explored, and the ruins of the
Imperial Palaces. Leaving the Roman Forum you will find
the Arch of Constantine, erected to commemorate the victory
of the emperor over Maxentius in the 4th century A.D.
(tradition says that before the battle the Emperor saw a
brilliant cross in the sky and said the famous words “in hoc
signo vinces”). The tour ends at the Colosseum, everlasting
symbol of the greatness of Rome and the stage for the
historical fights of the gladiators.
The afternoon is dedicated to the visit of two among
the most important Christians Churches of Rome—San
John di Lateran and the Holy Cross of Jerusalem. These
churches are symbolic of the importance that Constantine
placed on his adopted new faith. The properties for
both were donated by Constantine’s family, signifying that
importance. You will visit also the Santa Scala, the Holy
Steps, which are reputed to be the steps that Christ went
up when he was called for a meeting with Pontius Pilate.
A visit to these steps was recorded as one of the sites that
Martin Luther visited when he was called by the Pope to
Rome. Return to hotel for dinner and overnight.
Tuesday, October 14 Vatican / Fountains and
Squares
Meet the guide at
your hotel and transfer
to the Vatican Museum.
Passing through the Court
of the Pigna, designed
by Bramante in the 16th
century, you will enter
the Belvedere Palace to
reach the heart of the
museum, the Belvedere Courtyard. Proceeding with the
visit you will quickly pass the secondary galleries to reach
the Greek Cross Room where the splendid Sarcophagi
of St. Helene and St. Constance are housed. Walking
through the Galleries of the Candelabra, of the Maps and
of the Tapestries you will reach the
Apostolic Palace, the oldest section
of the complex of the Vatican
Palaces. Your guide will show you
the Apartments of Julius II, splendidly
decorated by Raphael and
his assistants, and then the Sistine
Chapel, where you will admire one
of the highest masterpieces of art:
the Genesis and the Last Judgement
by Michelangelo, that have
gained their original splendour
after the latest restorations.
Leaving the Sistine Chapel
and going down the Royal Stairway, projected by Bernini,
the guide will conduct you to the Basilica of St. Peter, the
most important temple of Christianity, which gathers inside
2000 years of history and famous works of art such as
the Pietà by Michelangelo. The visit ends at St. Peter’s
Square, which is embraced by the colonnade, an architectural
masterpiece by Bernini, under the symbolic protection
of the “Cuppolone”, as the Romans call Michelangelo’s
dome.
The rest of the day is at leisure to have the opportunity
to discover the Baroque center of Rome on your own.
You can see the Trevi Fountain and Spanish Steps, relax
in a coffee bar or shop in the fashion district around via
Condotti.
Wednesday, October 15 Departure
Early morning transfer to the Rome Airport for your
flight back home, arriving in the U.S. mid-afternoon.
Click Here for a Tour Reservation Form
For further information, contact:
Website: www.discoverthebiblelands.net
Travel Arrangements by:
124 E. Main St, 4th Floor
Ephrata, PA 17522
Tel: (800) 418-2929 ext. 81307
(717) 721-7307
Fax: (717) 733-1009
E-mail:lindyw@mtstravel.com
Tour Features and Conditions
Responsibility
  CST 2013363-40
Photos courtesy of D. Tubesing
|
