Off-The-Beaten-Path Wonders in Turkey(sm): Sagalassos & 4 UNESCO Sites (8 days)

Arrival in Antalya Airport. US, Canadian and Australian citizens need a Turkish Visa to enter the country. Turkish Visa can easily be obtained online: www.evisa.gov.tr . After you go through Passport Control and claim your luggage, please walk out to the Exit, where your local host will be meeting you for transfer to your boutique hotel. (Tuvana or Puding Suites, or similar).

This morning your guide will pick you from your hotel and take you a full-day sightseeing in the Antalya area:

First, drive to ancient Perge, where Paul stopped on his way from Cyprus with John. You will see some interesting monuments such as the stadium (in an excellent state of preservation) that held 15,000 people, the Grand Theater, huge Hellenistic and Roman gates, and an impressive colonnaded street.

Then, visit Aspendos, famous for its magnificent Roman Theater (beautifully preserved, seating 20,000 people), one of the largest of the ancient buildings in Asia Minor that is still used for important concerts.

In the afternoon, see some of the sites within Antalya, including the “Fluted” Minaret, a Seljuk monument from 1219 which is the symbol of Antalya, as well as Hadrian’s Gate (from 130 A.D.), actually a combination of three grand gates built to honor the visit of Emperor Hadrian to Antalya.

End your tour with a stop at Antalya Museum, generally regarded as displaying one of the country's most important archaeological collections, with priceless treasures in the Hall of Gods that include numerous representations of 16 gods, some in near-perfect condition, discovered in Perge and Aspendos.

Departing from Antalya after breakfast, discover the “Lake District” of Turkey!

First stop will be in Isparta, which is the center of rose production in Turkey. Isparta, with its large rose gardens, currently meets the 65 percent of the rose oil production of the world. Rose products you can purchase are many and varied: rose delight with petals, rose cologne, perfume, rose jam, rose water, rose oil, rose candle, rose cream, rose shampoo, make-up products, etc.

There is also a “lavender village” nearby that looks like Provence!

You will have a short tour of the city, and have lunch at a “Kebap” restaurant, dating from 1851 under the same family’s ownership.

After lunch, start your drive to Burdur, driving among several lakes on the way.

Visit the lovely Archaeological Museum, where you will see many artifacts excavated from nearby ancient sites, going back to 3,000 BCE, including marble statues from Sagalassos.

Overnight stay will be at the Sagalassos Lodge (or similar) located in the village of Aglasun, in an ‘Alpine setting’ with little creeks flowing around.

Highlights of this trip is today’s visit to the ancient city of Sagalassos, located at between 4800 and 5300 feet altitude, one of the best-preserved cities of antiquity. Its history goes back thousands of years; conquered by Alexander the Great in 333 BCE, it was introduced to Hellenic culture. The city really flourished after joining the Roman Empire in 25 BCE. Named the Metropolis of Pisidia, Sagalassos underwent a period of significant building activity during the reign of Emperor Hadrian (117-138 AD). The city later declined because earthquakes and the plague caused residents to flee in the 600s. Starting from 1986, archaeologists from Belgium have been excavating.

Today, visitors to Sagalassos can see an ancient agora, with a restored and functioning monumental fountain, gateway arches, and memorial columns. The site also features a huge Roman bath complex, an urban mansion with more than 80-rooms, an open-air theater with seating for up to 9,000 people, and a well-preserved library.

Entire statues, some at colossal scale and in very good state of preservation, have been recovered, including the head, leg and feet of Emperor Hadrian’s giant statue.

Afterwards, start your drive to Pamukkale, about a 2 ½- hour ride.

En route, stop at Insuyu Cavern, rich in stalactites, stalagmites, columns, walls, calcite crystals; it has nine lakes inside. Total length of the caverns is over 2,000 feet, making it Turkey’s third largest underground cave.

Also pass by Lake Salda, one of Turkey's deepest, clearest and cleanest lakes. Salda is compared to the Maldives because of its turquoise waters and extremely white sands.

You will then drive through the town of Buldan, a textile center where many of the products for Burberry and Gucci are made. (If interested, you can stop at an outlet store).

As you get close to Pamukkale, you will be able to recognize it from the highway. Overnight stay will be at the Doga Thermal Hotel(or similar).

Pamukkale is one of the natural wonders of Turkey;

in Turkish it means “Cotton Castle” because it looks like white castles (formed by limestone-laden thermal springs that have also created the unbelievable formations of cataracts and stalactites). Together with the ancient city of Hierapolis, located next to and on top of Pamukkale, this is one of the UNESCO World Heritage sites.

It was a healing center in the olden times, where people came for cures with the ‘miraculous’ thermal waters. Visit the pools and the ancient ruins of Hierapolis, including the extensive ancient cemetery and the well-preserved theater. Drive from Pamukkale to Aphrodisias, one of the most impressive ancient cities, dedicated to Aphrodite who was worshipped as Mother Goddess, rivaling Ephesus in its grandeur. It is also a ‘newly minted’ UNESCO World Heritage Site. Visit the Theater, the large Stadium, the marble Odeon (concert hall), Baths of Hadrian, the Gymnasium, Temple of Aphrodite (to whom the city was dedicated), and other spectacular sites. Lunch will be at a charming restaurant in the forest.

After the tour, you will drive to the picturesque hillside village of Sirince for overnight stay at the Nisanyan Houses (or similar).

After breakfast, you will be visiting Ephesus; one of the original Seven Wonders of the Ancient World, the Temple of Artemis (Diana) was also located in Ephesus. Ephesus was visited by Paul (twice) and John and mentioned in the Book of Revelation (as one of the ‘Seven Churches’), as well as in The Acts of the Apostles. This comprehensive tour will have you walking over the marble streets of Ephesus, adorned on both sides with temples, theaters, fountains, and baths, among other ancient structures. You will have the opportunity to see the Grand Theater (mentioned in the Acts of the Apostles) that accommodated over 24,000 people, the ancient marble toilets, and the ancient advertisement carved on the marble street - giving directions to the “house of ill-repute”!

The highlight will be a tour inside the “Terrace Houses”, homes to wealthy Romans that should afford a rare look into everyday life of a family during the Roman period.

Drive by the site of the Temple of Artemis and the Basilica of St. John, believed to have been built over the grave of John, relatively well preserved and partially restored where you can still see the baptismal pools.

If you are interested, you can also visit the House of the Virgin Mary, believed to be the last house of Mary and now a place of pilgrimage for Catholics.

At 9:00 a.m., your guide will meet you at the lobby of your hotel and start showing you another of the ‘Seven Churches’, as well as another UNESCO World heritage site. The drive will take about 2 1/2 hours.

Pergamum is one of the Seven Churches of the Revelation, located in the modern town of Bergama. Your visit to the Acropolis in Pergamum will offer a great view of the valley below, and impressive remains such as a very steep theater, various temples (now restored), and the Altar of Zeus (most of the reliefs from this site are now housed in Berlin) which was described as the “Throne of Satan” in the Acts of the Apostles.

Other remains are the site of the famous Library that once held over 200,000 scrolls of books written on parchment, which was invented in Pergamum (hence the name), as well as some restored temples.

Drive by the Red Basilica, built first as a monumental temple during the 2nd Century by the Romans. Then, it was converted into a church by the Byzantines. Today, it is in ruins, but still a remarkable monument.

Then visit the Aesculapion, the ancient hospital, where the famous physician Galen had practiced medicine over 1,800 years ago. At the entrance of the hospital was an inscription that read, “In the name of Gods, Death is forbidden to enter”! Our tour will include the library and the theater of the ancient Hospital that had been used for occupational therapy at the time, as well as the Sacred Tunnel where patients had slept (and the adjoining temples where their dreams had been interpreted). It is thought that Luke practiced medicine in this hospital.

Stop at a small village on the way back to Izmir to have dinner at the 150-year old restored stone house of a Turkish couple. The wife is a gourmet cook and the husband is an expert on Turkish wine.

Today, you will be transferred to Izmir Airport for your flight to your next destination.