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Turkey / Greece Study Tour with Echoing Eden
June 1-12, 2025
Led by Zachary McCartney
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Trip Blog Posts
Day 09 - Istanbul
posted on Thursday June 12 2025 at 12:00 am UTC
Final Reflections: Hagia Sophia, the Blue Mosque, and the Grand Hippodrome – Beauty and Tension in a City of Crossroads We closed our journey through the lands of the New Testament and early church with a day in Istanbul — ancient Constantinople — where east and west, church...
Day 08 - Corinth, Acropolis, Mars Hill
posted on Wednesday June 11 2025 at 12:00 am UTC
As our journey through the lands of the New Testament draws to a close, we spent our final full day walking the streets of two of the most iconic cities in the ancient world—Corinth and Athens. Both cities hold deep connections to the apostle Paul and to the earliest expressions of Christian faith...
Day 07 - Travel to Greece: Stadium
posted on Monday June 09 2025 at 8:00 pm UTC
Today was a travel day—but not without its own moments of wonder and reflection. We said goodbye to Turkey, grateful for the deep wells of history and faith we explored in cities like Ephesus, Sardis, and Pergamum. Boarding our flight, we crossed the Aegean and landed in the historic heart of Greece:...
Day 06 - Priene, Miletus, and Didyma
posted on Monday June 09 2025 at 12:00 am UTC
“A God Who Still Speaks: Priene, Miletus, and Didyma” Today we journeyed through three cities etched into the western edge of ancient Ionia—Priene, Miletus, and Didyma—each one a silent testament to the power, pride, and eventual fading of imperial Rome. And in each...
Day 05 -Ephesus, St. John's Basilica, Ephesus Museum, Turkish Weaving Center
posted on Saturday June 07 2025 at 3:00 pm UTC
Today we stepped into one of the crown jewels of the ancient world—Ephesus. A city of unmatched size, wealth, and spiritual significance in the Roman world, it was also one of the great frontiers of the gospel. As we walked its marble roads and stood beneath the towering columns of its temples...
Day 04 - Aphrodisias, Evening Cruise on the Aegean
posted on Saturday June 07 2025 at 12:00 am UTC
Blog Post: Day Four – Emperors, Martyrs, and the Sea Today we walked the marble streets of Aphrodisias—one of the most beautifully preserved cities in Asia Minor and a window into the soul of the Roman world. Named for Aphrodite, the Greek goddess of love, Aphrodisias was a center...
Day 03 - Hierapolis, Laodicea
posted on Thursday June 05 2025 at 8:00 pm UTC
We began the day quite literally on a high note—floating above the landscape in a hot air balloon as the morning sun gilded the valleys and ruins below. Suspended in stillness, watching the world slowly brighten beneath us, we were reminded how small we are and yet how intentionally God places...
Day 02 - Sardis, Colossae
posted on Wednesday June 04 2025 at 7:00 pm UTC
Day two brought us to Sardis, once the glittering capital of ancient Lydia. We heard of an ancient story of a raid in the night undoing a once great city. Then we saw the largest synagogue in the ancient world beautiful and opulent but with some features that were more pagan than Jewish. We asked questions...
Day 01 - Smyrna, Pergamum
posted on Tuesday June 03 2025 at 7:00 pm UTC
Our first day in Asia Minor felt like stepping directly into the pages of Revelation. We began in Smyrna, modern-day Izmir, where the ruins are few but the memory is powerful. This was the city where Polycarp, the beloved bishop and disciple of John, was martyred for refusing to call Caesar...
Preparing for Turkey, Greece
posted on Saturday February 01 2025 at 12:08 am UTC
Our trip will be here before you know it! Once we're on the ground we'll post periodic updates and photos. Check back often or get update notifications using the subscribe options on this page. We'll be sharing our travel experiences online with you, our friends and family, to not only bring you along...