The Bible and Culture

The ride from Myra to Antalya was rather long, and as we skimmed along the southern coast, and turned north and east, the sun was setting but you could just see a huge array of what looked like plastic covered buildings. As it turned out, that is exactly what they were--- greenhouses. Produce is a huge industry in this country, and they have increased their productivity dramatically through the greenhouses.In fact there are whole towns that depend on their produce for their economy, and … [Read more...]

No visit to Myra would be complete without a trip to the jaw-dropping site of ancient Myra, another Lykian city with rock cut tombs, only this time, they are carved into the same mountain as the theater! I wonder if they expected the dead to watch the theater performances.As you first come into the site, the first thing that grabs your attention is the huge representations of comedy and tragedy, carved in stone.The next thing that catches your eye is not the theater, but rather … [Read more...]

Next stop, the home of ole St. Nick, where he was bishop--- Myra. There are two sides to Myra. There is the more recent Christian side, where thousands of pilgrims from Russia and elsewhere come to receive a blessing at the church of St Nicholas. We will look at that side first (right after we had lunch). But there is also the Lykian and Greco-Roman remains which are extensive, and impressive to see as well. First though, here's a sort of touristy map of all of Turkey, in two parts, see if you … [Read more...]

At this juncture, we sadly left our boat behind, and resorted to a bus for the rest of the journey to Antalya. Along the way we had significant stops in mind. On this day we would pass through Xanthos, the Lykian capital city, on the way to stopping at length at Patara, and then on to Myra, the town of St. Nicholas himself. To get oriented here is a mapSee if you can find Xanthos (spelled with a Ks on this map) and Patara, a city which Paul did stop at on his way back to Jerusalem. Read … [Read more...]

Our next day was full of incident. We sailed to Gemeler island, otherwise known as St. Nicholas island, the former home of various Orthodox Churches, a monastery, and a world class view. This island was a stopping off point for pilgrims on the way to the Holy Land for many centuries. It is indeed a beautiful, restful spot... but you have to be careful.There was in addition, a warning written in the sand on the beach where one lands, saying 'Beware of the Spiders!!!' And they weren't … [Read more...]

We sailed away from Fethiye to have a bit of fun for a day, a bit of swimming in a pretty cove, and maybe some hiking (which this time I passed on. I had done this hike before). The morning began with some cloudsThere were other boats of a similar ilk in this cove as well...The bay is really quite popular and is known as Cleopatra' Bay or Ruin Bay. There are some ruins there, but nothing much worth exploring. But because it is a popular bay, the vendor boats started showing up... … [Read more...]

Today we went to visit a ghost town, with a tragic story behind it. The town is called Kayakoy, and it was a thriving Greek village near the coast of Turkey until 1923.... the horrible year of repatriation, when millions of Greeks were sent packing back to Greece (never mind they had lived there for over two thousand years) while hundreds and thousands of Turks were sent from Greece back to Turkey. This village basically became a ghost town over the period of a few years. It's a horrible story, … [Read more...]

There is a very fine article in the NY Times this morning on the spreading influence of Hillsong, opening churches in lots of places, including now NY and L.A. Here is the link, see what you think....http://www.nytimes.com/2014/09/10/us/hillsong-megachurch-with-a-beat-lures-a-young-flock.html?emc=edit_th_20140910&nl=todaysheadlines&nlid=31133870&_r=0" title="Hillsong">Here's a clue----- it's all about the music, and the exhilarating experience. … [Read more...]