Many of the most magnificent and best-preserved ancient Greek and Roman sites are found along Türkiye’s beautiful Aegean and Mediterranean coasts. Visit world-famous, plus little-visited yet spectacular, Greco-Roman sites, Byzantine churches, Crusader castles, and Ottoman palaces. Your engaging AIA lecturer/host, Yaşar Ersoy, teaches classical art and archaeology and has been doing fieldwork in Türkiye since 1980. Throughout the program he will offer illustrated talks and informal discussions about the sites you are visiting and their places within the larger ancient Mediterranean world. Along the way, you will enjoy delicious cuisine, comfortable accommodations, and the company of a small group of like-minded fellow travelers. An expert tour manager/local guide will handle logistics and smooth the way.
Highlights:
• Visit four UNESCO World Heritage Sites:
1. Historic Areas of Istanbul, including the 6th-century Byzantine church-turned-mosque of Hagia Sophia and Topkapi Palace, the imperial residence of the Ottoman sultans.
2. Ephesus, the best-preserved classical city in the eastern Mediterranean, whose treasures include ancient villas with splendid frescoes and mosaics, and the 2nd-century A.D. Library of Celsus.
3. Aphrodisias, whose Temple of Aphrodite, tetrapylon, large stadium, and baths of Hadrian are unforgettable.
4. Hierapolis-Pamukkale, where we see the ruins of the baths and temples of a famous 2nd-century B.C. thermal spa.
• Marvel at a variety of Greco-Roman sites, including:
1. Sardis, former capital of the Lydian Empire and King Croesus, who was defeated by Persian king Cyrus the Great in 546 B.C.
2. Didyma’s 7th-century B.C. Temple of Apollo, one of the leading oracles in the ancient world; and the 4th-century B.C. Temple of Athena at Priene, which became the classical model of Greek city planning.
3. Magnesia on the Meander, renowned for its Artemis cult, which has the ruins of a well-preserved theater and a stadium that could seat 30,000 spectators.
4. Kibyra, with its magnificent stadium, odeon covered with a Medusa mosaic, late Roman bath, and underground tombs.
5. Sagalassos, a rarely visited and recently excavated site at an elevation of 5,000 feet, with breathtaking views.
6. Aspendos, with one of the best-preserved ancient theaters in the world, renowned for its acoustics; and Perge, with its splendid theater, stadium, and enormous Hellenistic and Roman gates.
• Explore several fine museum collections, including Istanbul’s Archaeological Museum, Denizli Atatürk House and Ethnographic Museum, Burdur’s Archaeological Museum, and the Antalya Archaeological Museum.
•An optional extension to central Türkiye is also available, including three UNESCO World Heritage Sites: Göreme National Park and the Rock Sites of Cappadocia, Hattusha: the Hittite Capital, and the Neolithic Site of Çatalhöyük; Ankara, with its superb Museum of Anatolian Civilizations; and Konya, the famous center of Sufi mystic Rumi and his followers.