| Show in to HE rapid development of asia minor will undoubtedly do much to awaken public interest in this wonderful land and what Is more call attention to chope old cities made famous in holy writ through their association with st paul indeed was not the apostle to the gentiles born at tarsus one of its principal then was it not to the cities and peoples of this little known but nevertheless historic land that st paul made long and toilsome journeys enduring great hardships and perils in order that he might preach the gos pel here too were founded the earliest of the christian churches although asia minor that great tract of land square miles in extent which juts out from the continent of asia like an arm towards europe was the scene of st paul s great labors it is virtually a closed book to us we know less about its ancient cities its wonderful peoples and their fl customs than we do about those ot any other land it might well be described as one of the least explored sections ot the globe so far as the ordinary traveler Is concerned no one ever thinks of visiting it tor the simple reason that traveling in the country has been so difficult and in parts even dangerous this Is all the more remarkable when we remember the part its cities have played not only in the early history of the world but in the history ot christianity and how that for nigh upon three thousand years it was the great battleground of the nations here the greatest conquerors of the world contended for supremacy here were fought out the wars of the medes and persians with the iana 0 the greeks with the persians and of the romans with the dates and Parth lans and later th e turks with the weak byzantine empire here alexander the great and the romans belvely strove for the mas tery of the civilized world here stood proud ephesus with its great temple to diana one of the eight wonders of the world w here paul preached regu barly for two years till many of the sorcerers and others brought their books of superstition and burnt them troas where the young man eutychus fell asleep and falling down broke his neck but was miraculously restored to life by the apostle lys tra where paul healed the cripple caesarea Cae Barea where he was brought be 1 tore felix who trembled at his preaching and a host of other places known by name to every bible reader we wonder whether T where st paul a bis companions ta obes still exist today ey are alte alafa of them y are in n ruins n abad others are but old world sleepy all lages possessing but a fraction of their former population wealth and little of their ancient glory and t but a new era has set jn and these old bible cities of asia minor are again to become prosperous and regain some of their lost greatness I 1 altogether paul made four great missionary journeys three of these were taken from an bloch in syria which may be described as the apostles headquarters the last being his voyage from aldon to rome as a prisoner there fore became the cradle of gentile christianity it a as here that a christian community was for the time formed independently of the synagogue and here the members of the new beet were first called christians in the days of st paul that Is in A D 44 to 50 over eighteen hundred years ago now this his and memorable city of northern syria was a delightful place to sojourn in the ancient writ ars called it antioch Ant loch the beautiful and the crown of the east it boasted of a population of half a million souls and was the capital of the old greek kings of syria the banks of the niver orontes that flows through it were lined with stately and noble palaces while it contained many fine public buildings and works of art and some beautiful synagogues it was amidst this magnificence and splendor that the first christian church arose which through its disciples carried ahe gospel north westward into asia minor to the islands of the great sea to macedonia greece and italy paul a first journey was taken in company with barnabas and a relative named mark and lasted about two years his first objective was the island of cyprus lying on the syrian coast now under british administration we can picture the little band crossing the bridge over the orontes and making their way past the plantations to Sel eucla the ancient port of antioch Ant loch where they embarked the port Is now in ruins though the ft alls inclosing the basin are etall preserved from this very harbor then paul and barnabas balled to commence the first great evangelistic tour deliberately planned by the christian church after a tour of the island the preachers sailed to perga in Pam phylla a roman province on the couth coast of asia minor traveling thence to antioch in to follow them step by step is unnecessary here as their journeys are record ed in the acts rather we will note how we can best today visit these cities and places which st paul saw and wherein be preached during the three trips he made into this wonderful As we are in antioch our best plan will ba to go rf v road to Ai andretta and there take steamer to JS ifill amui mersina Mers lna now an important port on the coast shortly even this sea trip will not be necessary for Alex andretta will be linked with the bagdad railway once at merelda Me relna we can follow the railway through the heart of the country leaving this link with civilization here and there in order to visit those places which claim our particular attention A railway ride of about an hour from mersina brings us to tarsus the birthplace of the apostle truly it Is a city with a remarkable past alex ander the great spent some time here while it was at tarsus that mark antony received cleo patra who sailed up the river in a magnificent barge disguised as aphrodite it was one ot the three great universities of the pagan world it lies on the river about eight miles in a direct line from the coast in st paul s day the river was navigable as tar aa the city but it has been allowed to silt up with the result that only very small boats can approach the city now from tarsus we have a somewhat rough ride to where we again strike the railway our road Is a romantic one over the taurus mountains and through the famous gates the latter Is a pass in a deep rocky gorge here a band of engineers are making a track tor the railway BO that in the near future one will be able to cross the pass in comfortable coaches the apostle passed through this very defile on his second jour ney at we again take the train to conla passing over what Is likely to become an exceedingly fertile plateau conla Is in the center of a great cotton growing district and Is surround ed by luxuriant orchards of plums and apricots this Is ancient Icon lum a very old city and said to be the first place to emerge after the deluge the railway has wrought great changes in this ancient city modern european houses are spring ing up near the station the population Is growing trade has increased tour or five fold and there Is a general sense ot alertness portions of the old walls that once surrounded the city are still to be ceen as well as one of its old towers st paul visited this city twice once in company with bar nabas and the other time with timothy it was here that the apostle was taken for a heathen god and had much ado to prevent the priests of jupiter offering sacrifices to him in the end however the had to flee the town and seek refuge at bystri which lies a little to the couth and Is easily reached on horseback about thirty miles southeast of lystra lies the cite of derbe in st paul a day an important tron tier town of the province of galalla the exact locality Is etall uncertain but Is generally placed near the elope of mountain hadji baba pilgrim father 8 feet high on a which shows in of covering a buried town nothing ap pears above grouch amle before ehg moslem in e caslon the town a as of sufficient importance to ae the seat of a christian bishop retracing our steps to conla we make preparations for a tour to antioch Ant loch in it stood on the great high road from syria to ephesus and in those early days was the administrative and military center of the southern halt ot the roman province of galalla away to the south Is perga now called Mur tana some twelve miles from the coast the old time capital of the province ot Pam phylla paul visited it twice on the first occasion he simply passed through it but on the second made a short stay and preached the word of the lord the city has been gradually eclipsed by its seaport attalla now known as adalia today a very busy and thriving place and from whence we can take steamer and sail westward around the coast ot asia minor passing many places associated with the missionary story of the apostle yonder are the ruins of myra once an important port of lecla the harbor where julius the centurion who had paul in charge tran shipped him with his other prisoners into a vessel ot alexandria bound tor rome the same that was afterward wrecked on the coast ot malta then in succession we catch sight of the places touched by the apostle when returning to syria from on his third mis flonary journey A few hours only from myra are the ruins of patara where he arrived from miletus and changed tor a vessel bound for tyre antly we come within sight of the island of rhodes and the town of the same name rendered famous by the bronze colossus and then catch sight of cnidus mentioned in the account of paul s voyage to rome and coa the scenery Is now superb and remains so until we reach the gulf of Men delyah where we anchor and in about an hour stand amid the ruins of miletus this famous greek city perhaps the greatest of all the old greek cities in asia minor had lost some of its importance in paul d time owing to the growing prosperity of ephesus As we gaze upon its wonderful ruins we recall the touching story of paul s solemn and affectionate farewell to the elders of the church at whom he had summoned to miletus to meet him rejoining our steamer we slip through the narrow channel between samoa and the rocky promontory of in the neighborhood of which Is an inlet still known as st paul s bay and in due course arrive at busy smyrna from whence we can go by rail to the ruins of ephesus and also to ancient philadelphia and laodicea leaving the train at we are soon among the ruins of the once proud and mighty city of eabe BUS in paul s day it was a seaport with a serviceable harbor but now owing to the continuous washing down of soli by the kenderes Men deres and the bayster Cay ster it stands high and dry some four or five miles east of the latter river it was the capital of the roman province of asia and the then liverpool of the mediterranean it was on the great line of communication between rome and the east and behind it lay such cities as philadelphia laodicea and northward again but easily reached by local steamer Is the island and town of mitylene Ml tylene with alsos on the main and both associated with st paul while farther north still lies troas row known aa eckl stamboul the troas of acta Is not to be confused contused cont used with classic troy the old cities of macedonia and greece where paul and his companions preached and founded nourishing churches are easy of access kavala ancient Nea polls Is a thriving port while where paul stayed in the house of the convert named clydla a seller of purple a few miles in land Is in ruins and apollon are today picturesque villages known of course by other names while la the salonica of today the two letters that the apostle wrote to his converts here showed that he had a very special affection for them later played an important part in the history of chris and in the middle ages was known as the orthodox city farther south la athens the capital of greece at he height of its popularity nhen paul kaneft it in A D 62 |
