Day 8 - Colossae, Antalya, Kaleiçi, and Paul's Place

This morning we leave the white cliffs of Paumkkale. But before we leave the Lycus Valley, we’ll stop at the site of the town of Colossae. Nothing remains of this town that Paul wrote a letter to that is the favorite book of the Bible for many people. Philemon and his slave Onesimus of the New Testament letter Philemon seem to have come from this town.

Once a large town, Colossae was but a small town in the first century and was mostly destroyed by an earthquake around 60AD (indicating that Paul probably wrote his letter to them before that event). There is not much to see today, but it is a great place to remember the important message of Paul’s letter:

Picture Todd Bolen www.bibleplaces.com

Col 1 "(Christ) is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. For by him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things were created by him and for him. He is before all things, and in him all things hold together… For God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in him, and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether things on earth or things in heaven, by making peace through his blood, shed on the cross."

From Colossae we begin a beautiful four-hour drive through several mountain ranges that will take us to Antalya, a gem of a city on the Mediterranean Sea. We’ll have a brief stop at the Antik Yolu, the ancient Roman road coming into the Antalya Valley.

Founded by, and named for, a king of Pergamum named Attalus. Antalya is known as Attalia in the Book of Acts. Paul and Barnabas both came and went from this harbor town on their first missionary journey.

Antalya is now a major city, with over two million residents. Her coastline in both directions is filled with resort hotels that attract millions of vacationers to her sunny skies and beautiful beaches. Some have described Antalya as Turkey’s most “European town”.

We’ll head straight to Kaleiçi (KAH-leh-ee-chee); Antalya’s historic old town to, visit this historic area and meet some Presbyterians who have done ministry in Turkey for many years.

Kaleici can be entered through the remains of a Roman gate built in 130 AD to commemorate the Roman Emperor Hadrian's visit to the city.

Within this area, we’ll visit St. Paul Cultural Center, or simply “Paul’s Place” - a unique ministry location planted by Presbyterian pastor James Bultema as a place for people of all nationalities to gather and share their faith, culture and ideas. It has become home to an international English church and the host facility for a Turkish Christian church that is run and staffed by Turkish Christians.
In Antalya, we will also meet Ben’s other half, Verna. She has been an important part of the PCUSA work in the past few years. This will be an exciting location to see how God is still working in this ancient country today.
Our final Kaleici visit will be to an overview of the old harbor, the very same harbor that Paul journeyed from.
Time permitting, we visit the excellent Antalya Museum that houses finds from Roman towns in the region, including Perge, where we will visit tomorrow.

We’ll spend the next two night at the wonderful Talya Hotel, right on the shores of the Mediterranean.