Turkey: Cradle of the Church
In June 2025, my wife Allison and I, along with my friend Dr. Garwood Anderson of Nashotah House, led a pilgrimage for about forty people from around North America to various Christian sites in Turkey. We were celebrating the 1700th anniversary of the Council of Nicaea, the first ecumenical council, which settled a major theological dispute by establishing core teachings about the nature of Christ that have been at the heart of the faith for Christians ever since.
We began in Istanbul, a city I never tire of exploring. The city’s Byzantine remains were a special focus of interest, though we enjoyed many beautiful Ottoman sites as well. We continued south and west, visiting most of the ancient cities whose churches were named in the Book of Revelation, many of them important centers of Greek culture for many centuries prior. We then headed inland, visiting ancient ruins of the cities of the Lycus Valley. Our final stop was in the moon-like landscapes of Cappadocia, where beautiful churches were created in caves dug out of the living rock.
I prepared four posts, each named for the most remarkable places we encountered in each section of the journey: