Tour Detail
Tour starts at 6.30 a.m. hotel pick-up for airport transfer
With round-trip flights from Istanbul, see a historical treasure of the eastern Mediterranean on a full-day tour of Ephesus and trace the footprints of Cleopatra, Mark Antony, the Virgin Mary, and John the Apostle.
In Ephesus, the largest open-air museum in Turkey, there are more than 30 buildings and structures connected by streets that still have chariot wheel impressions on them. Your tour guide will take you to the magnificent Great Theater, where St. Paul once delivered a sermon denouncing pagans and gladiators in combat. The Library of Celsus' renovated front will astound you as you stroll along Marble Street to get there. Visit the Roman baths, the Temple of Hadrian, and other fascinating antiquities.
Continue to the Virgin Mary Church. Christian tradition holds that after Christ's resurrection, the Apostle John brought Mary to Ephesus. Popes Paul VI and John Paul II confirmed that the church was built on the site of the home where she spent her dying days.
Visit the Temple of Artemis, one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World, to cap off your day. Even though the magnificent Hellenistic building was once more magnificent than the Parthenon, it is now simply a collection of columns and scattered remains.