We catch an early flight to the city of Izmir on the Aegean coast, then drive south to the antique city of Ephesus. This is one of the world’s richest and most rewarding archaeological sites with impressive ruins dating from the Classical Greek, Hellenistic, Roman and early Byzantine periods. It is also closely associated with the beginnings of the Christian faith. In addition to being the city to which the Letters to the Ephesians were written, St. John and St. Paul both visited the city, and the Virgin Mary herself is said to have spent her last days nearby. Among the highlights of our tour of Ephesus will be the antique theatre, the famed Library of Celsus, the brothel, the vast Basilica of St. John, the Mosque of Isabey, the Temple of Artemis (one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World) and a group of recently excavated early Byzantine mansions that feature incredibly well-preserved floor mosaics and frescoes. At Ephesus, the past comes to life in a pageantry of architectural and artistic marvels the like of which can be found almost nowhere else in the world. Finally we will make a short pilgrimage to the House of the Virgin Mary, which stands high on a mountainside overlooking the Aegean Sea and the Greek island of Samos.

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