Calendar

Visit to Turkey

25 April 2015 to 03 May 2015 23:59



Itinerary for Trip to Turkey, April 25th– May 3rd 2015 

The price of the trip is £835 per person – sharing (twin or double rooms, there is a single room supplement). This price includes all breakfasts, some meals, group airport transfers, coach travel and entrance fees. It also includes one internal flight from Konya to Istanbul on April 30.
It does not include any visa you might need for Turkey, or your international flights and transport to and from Turkey. Please note that the group is meeting in Izmir airport (or Selcuk if you want to make your own way there) on Saturday April 25.
Extra money for meals and other personal spending would be in the region of £150 - £200.

For a booking form or if you have any questions please write to secretary@beshara.org

Saturday, April 25

Fly to Izmir, coach to hotel in Selçuk. Meet the rest of the trip. Selçuk is a small, pretty town near the Mediterranean Coast. 

Sunday, April 26

Visit to Mary’s House, Ephesus, Basilica of St John, Museum, Isa Bey Mosque. 
Overnight in hotel in Selçuk

The House of the Virgin Mary was built for Mary by the Apostle John, with whom she travelled to Ephesus after the crucifixion. The small stone house and nearby spring was rediscovered after its location was revealed to a German nun, Anne Catherine Emmerich, in her dreams in the nineteenth century.

Ephesus, lying ruined on the plains below, was home to over 250 000 people in the 1st century, one of the most populous cities of its time. It contains magnificent temples, the largest known amphitheatre of the ancient world (seating up to 2400) and the library of Celsus. Of the temple of Artemis - one of the Seven wonders of the ancient world, there is one solitary column remaining, standing alone in a field on the outskirts of Selçuk.

Within Selçuk itself a visit is made to the tomb of St John the Apostle, inside the 6th century Basilica of St John, then the 14th century Isa Bey mosque and the Selcuk museum.

Monday, April 27

Visits to the sites of Priene, Miletus and Didyma
Overnight in hotel in Selçuk. Dinner included.

This second day in Selçuk takes in more ancient ruins including those of Priene, Miletus and Didyma. Didyma, a huge, unfinished temple to Apollo, was once the precinct of an oracle, renowned throughout the ancient world. The temple was never finished and the power of the oracle disappeared after the arrival of Christianity.

Tuesday, April 28

Travel from Selçuk to Konya by coach.
Dinner not included.

Wednesday, April 29

Konya: visits to Visits – Sadruddin Konevi, Shams-i Tabriz, Mevlana Jelaluddin Rumi, Shamsuddin Ateshbaz Wali. 

Overnight in Konya. Dinner not included.

The visit to Konya begins, in accordance with Rumi’s instructions, with visits to the resting places of Sadreddin Konevi, the direct spiritual heir of Ibn ‘Arabi, and then Shams of Tabriz. Finally we pay our respects at the tomb of Mevlana Jelaluddin Rumi, the great 14th century poet and mystic.

We are also hoping that we may be able to also attend the Sema, the zikr ceremony of the Mevlevi Order (whirling dervishes) that was founded by Rumi’s followers after his death is also attended, but this is not yet confirmed as the schedule for 2015 has not yet been released. If we are not able to attend in Konya then this should be possible in Istanbul at the end of the trip.

Thursday, April 30

Fly to Istanbul from Konya. Flight times not yet confirmed. Transfer to hotel. 

Dinner in Istanbul, not included.

Depending upon time of flight we would either plan something more for Konya in morning, or afternoon in Istanbul.

Friday, May 1

Istanbul visits – Ferry to Üsküdar to visit Aziz Mahmud Hüdai Efendi. Ferry to Eminönü. By coach to Ayazma, Kariye Camii. After lunch to Aya Sofya, Yerebatan Sarayi.
If time permits, Küçük Aya Sofya, Sokullu Mehmet Paşa Camii.
Overnight in Istanbul. Dinner not included.

The first port of call upon arrival in Istanbul lies in Uskudar on the Eastern (Asian) side of the Bosphorus where we visit the tomb of Aziz Mahmud Huda’i, Pir of the Jelveti order of dervishes. We then head back across the Bosphorus where the visits include:

St Savior in Chora, the Kariye Camii: a Byzantine church, now a museum, whose ceilings are covered with exquisite 14th century mosaics depicting the life of Christ and the Virgin Mary including portrayals and text depicting Mary as the “Container of the Uncontainable”, and the famous fresco of the Harrowing of Hell. 

  • The Ayazma and Church of St. Mary of Blachernae: an ancient church dedicated to the Virgin Mary. The first church was built here in the 5th Century, but the spring, that still flows, was already known to be sacred. The original church was totally destroyed by fire in 1434 and the building that stands there today was constructed in 1867.

  • Haghia Sophia: The Haghia Sophia, completed in 537, maintained its title as the largest Christian Church in the world for over a thousand years. When Sultan Mehmet II finally breached the walls of Constantinople in 1453 he converted the church to a mosque, which it remained until its conversion to a museum by Ataturk in 1935. It contains gorgeous mosaics, marble work and frescoes.

Sat, May 2

Free day in Istanbul
Dinner not included.

Sun, May 3

Return flights

 



Itinerary for Trip to Turkey, April 25th– May 3rd 2015 

The price of the trip is £835 per person – sharing (twin or double rooms, there is a single room supplement). This price includes all breakfasts, some meals, group airport transfers, coach travel and entrance fees. It also includes one internal flight from Konya to Istanbul on April 30.
It does not include any visa you might need for Turkey, or your international flights and transport to and from Turkey. Please note that the group is meeting in Izmir airport (or Selcuk if you want to make your own way there) on Saturday April 25.
Extra money for meals and other personal spending would be in the region of £150 - £200.

For a booking form or if you have any questions please write to secretary@beshara.org

Saturday, April 25

Fly to Izmir, coach to hotel in Selçuk. Meet the rest of the trip. Selçuk is a small, pretty town near the Mediterranean Coast. 

Sunday, April 26

Visit to Mary’s House, Ephesus, Basilica of St John, Museum, Isa Bey Mosque. 
Overnight in hotel in Selçuk

The House of the Virgin Mary was built for Mary by the Apostle John, with whom she travelled to Ephesus after the crucifixion. The small stone house and nearby spring was rediscovered after its location was revealed to a German nun, Anne Catherine Emmerich, in her dreams in the nineteenth century.

Ephesus, lying ruined on the plains below, was home to over 250 000 people in the 1st century, one of the most populous cities of its time. It contains magnificent temples, the largest known amphitheatre of the ancient world (seating up to 2400) and the library of Celsus. Of the temple of Artemis - one of the Seven wonders of the ancient world, there is one solitary column remaining, standing alone in a field on the outskirts of Selçuk.

Within Selçuk itself a visit is made to the tomb of St John the Apostle, inside the 6th century Basilica of St John, then the 14th century Isa Bey mosque and the Selcuk museum.

Monday, April 27

Visits to the sites of Priene, Miletus and Didyma
Overnight in hotel in Selçuk. Dinner included.

This second day in Selçuk takes in more ancient ruins including those of Priene, Miletus and Didyma. Didyma, a huge, unfinished temple to Apollo, was once the precinct of an oracle, renowned throughout the ancient world. The temple was never finished and the power of the oracle disappeared after the arrival of Christianity.

Tuesday, April 28

Travel from Selçuk to Konya by coach.
Dinner not included.

Wednesday, April 29

Konya: visits to Visits – Sadruddin Konevi, Shams-i Tabriz, Mevlana Jelaluddin Rumi, Shamsuddin Ateshbaz Wali. 

Overnight in Konya. Dinner not included.

The visit to Konya begins, in accordance with Rumi’s instructions, with visits to the resting places of Sadreddin Konevi, the direct spiritual heir of Ibn ‘Arabi, and then Shams of Tabriz. Finally we pay our respects at the tomb of Mevlana Jelaluddin Rumi, the great 14th century poet and mystic.

We are also hoping that we may be able to also attend the Sema, the zikr ceremony of the Mevlevi Order (whirling dervishes) that was founded by Rumi’s followers after his death is also attended, but this is not yet confirmed as the schedule for 2015 has not yet been released. If we are not able to attend in Konya then this should be possible in Istanbul at the end of the trip.

Thursday, April 30

Fly to Istanbul from Konya. Flight times not yet confirmed. Transfer to hotel. 

Dinner in Istanbul, not included.

Depending upon time of flight we would either plan something more for Konya in morning, or afternoon in Istanbul.

Friday, May 1

Istanbul visits – Ferry to Üsküdar to visit Aziz Mahmud Hüdai Efendi. Ferry to Eminönü. By coach to Ayazma, Kariye Camii. After lunch to Aya Sofya, Yerebatan Sarayi.
If time permits, Küçük Aya Sofya, Sokullu Mehmet Paşa Camii.
Overnight in Istanbul. Dinner not included.

The first port of call upon arrival in Istanbul lies in Uskudar on the Eastern (Asian) side of the Bosphorus where we visit the tomb of Aziz Mahmud Huda’i, Pir of the Jelveti order of dervishes. We then head back across the Bosphorus where the visits include:

St Savior in Chora, the Kariye Camii: a Byzantine church, now a museum, whose ceilings are covered with exquisite 14th century mosaics depicting the life of Christ and the Virgin Mary including portrayals and text depicting Mary as the “Container of the Uncontainable”, and the famous fresco of the Harrowing of Hell. 

  • The Ayazma and Church of St. Mary of Blachernae: an ancient church dedicated to the Virgin Mary. The first church was built here in the 5th Century, but the spring, that still flows, was already known to be sacred. The original church was totally destroyed by fire in 1434 and the building that stands there today was constructed in 1867.

  • Haghia Sophia: The Haghia Sophia, completed in 537, maintained its title as the largest Christian Church in the world for over a thousand years. When Sultan Mehmet II finally breached the walls of Constantinople in 1453 he converted the church to a mosque, which it remained until its conversion to a museum by Ataturk in 1935. It contains gorgeous mosaics, marble work and frescoes.

Sat, May 2

Free day in Istanbul
Dinner not included.

Sun, May 3

Return flights

 

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