Post from Michelle:
Although I have been a Christian most of my life I am embarrassed to admit I've remained quite ignorant of early church history. So I was surprised to learn Turkey, although 99% Muslim, overflows in early Christian history.
Selcuk, a town a couple kilometers off the west coast, is a wonderful place to begin to rectify my ignorance. St. John, an apostle and writer of the Holy Bible, retired and died here. It is also believed he brought the Virgin Mary here after the death of Christ, where she too spent her final days. Nearby is Ephesus, home of the Church of Ephesus, one of the seven Asian churches in Revelations and a city where St. Paul preached, spreading Christianity.
We arrived in Selcuk by bus in the morning, leaving a whole day to roam its streets. We visited its museum, ate lunch in an outdoor cafe and then wandered up a hill to the St. John Church, a 6th-century basilica built over St. John's tomb. Although mostly a crumbling ruin, it was fun to walk among the large stones strewn about, lone columns standing that once supported huge domes, and up stairways that led no where, the second floor long gone.
If the church was fully restored it would be the 7th largest cathedral in the world. Its surviving foundation clearly showed its immense size. St. John's tomb lay at the top of the cruciform shaped church surrounded by the remains of cracked marble floor and beautiful mosaic tiles, now exposed to wind, rain, and sun under the open sky.
I walked to the edge of the hill and looked out to the vast plain below, stretching to the horizon with miles and miles of farmland. I imagined John sitting as an old man under the willow trees, writing his Gospel while gazing at the same view. I wonder if he had any idea this new religion he was promoting would change the world forever.
Selcuk, a town a couple kilometers off the west coast, is a wonderful place to begin to rectify my ignorance. St. John, an apostle and writer of the Holy Bible, retired and died here. It is also believed he brought the Virgin Mary here after the death of Christ, where she too spent her final days. Nearby is Ephesus, home of the Church of Ephesus, one of the seven Asian churches in Revelations and a city where St. Paul preached, spreading Christianity.
We arrived in Selcuk by bus in the morning, leaving a whole day to roam its streets. We visited its museum, ate lunch in an outdoor cafe and then wandered up a hill to the St. John Church, a 6th-century basilica built over St. John's tomb. Although mostly a crumbling ruin, it was fun to walk among the large stones strewn about, lone columns standing that once supported huge domes, and up stairways that led no where, the second floor long gone.
If the church was fully restored it would be the 7th largest cathedral in the world. Its surviving foundation clearly showed its immense size. St. John's tomb lay at the top of the cruciform shaped church surrounded by the remains of cracked marble floor and beautiful mosaic tiles, now exposed to wind, rain, and sun under the open sky.
I walked to the edge of the hill and looked out to the vast plain below, stretching to the horizon with miles and miles of farmland. I imagined John sitting as an old man under the willow trees, writing his Gospel while gazing at the same view. I wonder if he had any idea this new religion he was promoting would change the world forever.