STUDY TOUR TO NORTH TURKEY (Peter's First Letter)
ITINERARY
5 Provinces of St. Peter
DAY 1: Flight from home to Trabzon .
Overnight stay in Trabzon.
DAY 2: [PONTOS PROVINCE]
Sightseeing in Trabzon: Hagia Sofia (monastery church), Citadell etc. Excursion to the Sumela monastery. Meeting with local believers (Santa Maria church) in the evening. Reading of 1 Pet 1-5, - and studying how the Gospel reached the Black Sea region in the first century AD. Overnight stay in Trabzon.
DAY 3:
Leaving early for going by bus along the Black Sea coast to Samsun (Amisos) (c. 350 km). Possible meeting with local believers.
Continue to Amasya (150 km). Studying 1 Pet 1. Overnight stay in Amasya.
DAY 4: [GALATIA PROVINCE (1)]
Sightseeing in the morning in Amasya (home town of the ancient Geographer Strabon and the famous preacher bishop Asterios (d. 410). Roundtrip to important hisorical sites: Annesi ("monastery" of Basilios the Great [on the way to Niksar]), Niksar (home to the important missionary of the old church, Gregorios "the miracle maker"), Comana (important cult site, called "little Corinth; near Tokat, where John Chrysostome died). Studying 1 Pet 2. Overnight stay in Amasya.
DAY 5: [CAPPADOCIA PROVINCE]
Leaving Amasya for Zela/Zile (Caesar's victory over Mithradates: "Veni, vidi, vici"), continue to Caesareia (Kayseri) (brief sightseeing), and possibly continuing to Avanos (?) for overnight stay.
DAY 6:
Roundtrip in Cappadocia (Greme, Zelve, rgp, Derinkuyu). "The three Cappadocians"of Church history. Studying 1 Pet 3. Overnight stay in Avanos (?)
DAY 7: [GALATIA PROVINCE (2)]
Leaving for a transport leg. Stop in Konya (Iconium) for brief sightseeing. Continuing for overnight stay in Aksehir (Filomelion) or Afyon - or? Studying 1 Pet 4.
DAY 8: [ASIA PROVINCE)]
Continuing to Iznik (Nicaea), via Inegl / Yenisehir (with beatiful view of Iznik and Iznik Glu). Overnight stay in Iznik
DAY 9: [BITHYNIA PROVINCE]
Sightseeing in Nicaea (city walls, Hagia Sofia, theatre, site of Imperial palace [Church council AD 325] etc. Possibly Danish service on the shore of Iznik Gl in the evening. Studying 1 Pet 5. Overnight stay in Iznik.
DAY 10:Continuing to Istanbul (ferry Topcilar-Darica). boat "cruise" (1.5 hours) on the Bosphoros (remembering the sea voyage Rome-Amisos for 1 Pet ...).
Sightseeing in IstanbulOvernight stay in Istanbul.
