**Contact us at +1 (336) 263-7634 or pastor@stanthonychicopee.com**

Dear Friends,

It is a joy to invite you on our pilgrimage to Greece and Turkey.

This all inclusive experience has been crafted so you can enjoy this once in a lifetime experience the right way. Please review the resources below and if you have any questions, please feel free to reach out to us, we would love to speak with you.

Sincerely yours in Christ and Mary,

St. Anthony of Padua Parish

 Our Pilgrimage begins today as we depart on our flights to Athens.

Arrival in Athens, check in. Accommodation in hotel. Dinner.

After breakfast, sightseeing ATHENS with a guide. 

City tour - Constitution Square, Parliament, Temple of Zeus, Olympic Stadium. Then, visiting the Agora, Aeropag 

Hill - where St. Paul of Tarsus after delivering the sermon gained his first convert, Dionysius, the Areopagite, later 

Bishop and Patron of Athens. Free time. Transfer to the hotel, dinner and overnight stay.

OPTIONAL: Visiting the ancient buildings on the Acropolis - Propylaea, Nike Temple, Parthenon.

Breakfast and sightseeing in ARGOLIDA. Stopover in ANCIENT CORINTH - the place of stay and teaching of St. Paul. Accommodation at the hotel by the sea. 

OPTIONAL: Drive to EPIDAVROS (the best-preserved ancient Greek theater with remarkable acoustics ). (20 EURO PER PERSON – TICKETS + GUIDE).  

 Breakfast, time for relax. FREE DAY TO RELAX ON THE PELOPONNESE BEACH. 

After breakfast, drive to DELPHI (3.5h) - the heart of Ancient Greece, where there are wonderful ancient monuments located in the Parnassus Mountains. Transfer to the North. (About 5h) 

A short stop at TERMOPILE at the monument of King Leonidas, the site of the great battle between the Greeks and Persians in 480 BC. Hot gates - thermal spring. Overnight stay and dinner in Kalambaka. 

After breakfast, visiting the famous METEORA - "hanging monasteries", contact with the life of monks. Transfer to Kavala (6H). Overnight stay. Dinner. 

Breakfast, transfer to KAVALA, where St. Paul set foot in Europe for the first time. Transfer to PHILIPPI - a Roman colony where St. Paul taught. Sightseeing - Roman theater, Via Egnatia, Agora and the place of Lydia's baptism. Free time on the beach. Overnight stay. Dinner. 

Breakfast, drive to ISTAMBUL (about 7h). Border crossing. Arrival to the city. Check in. Free time to rest. Dinner at the hotel and overnight For those who wish, a cruise on the Bosphorus (35 EUR).  

Breakfast. After breakfast we experience ISTANBUL’S rich quilt of cultures, Eastern Orthodoxy and Islam. We begin at HAGIA SOFIA, at one time the premier church in Christendom, later a mosque and now a museum. Later the Topkapi Palace, The Blue Mosque - the Ahmet Mosque, St. Savior Pantocrator, Mosque of Suleiman I the Magnificent. Ater half day of sightseeing free time. Dinner is served at our hotel. Overnight. 

After breakfast, depart south. Drive to IZMIR - (2h) - ancient Smyrna. Transfer to the hotel and overnight 

Breakfast, drive to EFEZ, visiting the city founded by the Greeks, known for the Temple of Artemis, one of the 7 wonders of the world. It’s an amazing city with ancient history with numerous temples, the Celsus Library, the Theater and the Holy Way. St. Paul have been there twice, on his second missionary journey he founded there a Christian community. Transfer to EPHESUS, we will visit the HOUSE OF VIRGIN MARY, where she lived with John, on the hill behind the city. Transfer to the hotel for dinner and overnight. 

 Breakfast. ALL DAY REST BY THE SEA. Dinner and overnight. 

After breakfast, drive to MILET - a walk around the city, where St. Paul the Apostle stopped and had a famous speech to the elders of the Church. Transfer to PAMUKKALE - visiting the ancient spa in Hierapolis located by hot limestone waterfalls. Exploration of Pamuk 

Breakfast and departure to KONYA (known as Iconium during the ancient time), which is the capital of the Seljuk sultans in the 11th century and which was visited by the Saint Paul on his missionary journeys (Acts 14.1-5). Dinner and overnight in KONYA 

Breakfast, drive to CAPPADOCIA (4,5h). Today we will enjoy touring through perhaps the most surreal and strange landscape on earth. Thousands of years of erosion of the earth have formed the so-called Fairy chimneys. You may know CAPPADOCIA as a fantastic, lunar landscape, famous worldwide for its fairy chimneys. We visit UCHISAR AND DERINKUYU - rock towns with 10 floors in some places. Transfer to the night. 

Breakfast, transfer to ANKARA (about 4-5H) On the way, a stop at the SALT LAKE TUZ, which is one of the largest water reservoirs in Turkey. In Ankara - the capital of Turkey - a panoramic tour of the city. Afternoon rest. Dinner and overnight. 

Today our representative will drive you to Ankara airport so you can catch your flight home safely with unforgettable memories.