Ephesus
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Ephesus

The ancient city of Ephesus was a major center of the Roman world. It was a port city with a population that was near 250,000. The city had streets were made of marble and had a library that was second only to the great library of Alexandria. In the city were many temples to the Roman gods, especially the goddess Artemis, whose name was repeated for two hours in the theatre when Paul tried to proclaim the gospel in Ephesus.

Hagia Sophia
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Hagia Sophia

After our ~16 hours of airports and flying, we made it to Istanbul, our first stop on our 2023 Mundelein pilgrimage in the footsteps of St. Paul. Seeing as Istanbul is over 90% Muslim, like the rest of Turkey, and St. Paul never explicitly mentions stopping in the city, it might seem like a strange first place for us to visit.