SEVEN CHURCHES OF REVELATION 

Seven Churches  of the Revelation (Seven Churches of Apocalypse)

Smyrna - Sardis - Pergamon - Laodicea - Thyatira - Philadelphia - Ephesus

Smyrna

Izmir is the third largest city in Turkey.Tourists who stay here find it a useful centre from which to explore the whole Aegean region. In addition there is much to see in  Izmir itself.

The first settlers about 2000 BC seem to have lived in the Bayrakli region on the Northwest side of the bay. There may have been some Hittite influence at that time. Ionians took the town in the 9th century BC. By the 7th century its place on the trade routes between Lydia and the west gave it great power and importance in its competition with Miletus and Ephesus. Lydians conquered Smyrna in the 6th century, it declined for 200 years thereafter. Alexander the Great moved the city from the bay Location to the slope of Pagus in 334 BC. After being part of Pergamon Kingdom it was willed to Rome.

Ancient Smyrna was considered the most beautiful of the cities of the Roman province of Asia. A few ruins from the Hellenistic or Roman city Smyrna are visible in place: The roman forum, a very short stretch of Roman road near the Esrefpasa Caddesi and the Roman aquaduct in Buca. Smyrna figures in John's Book of Revelation as the place of the synagogue of Satan.

Today's central market in Izmir is a labyrinth of streets and alleys with major stores and pushcart venders all competing to sell their merchandise. It is a noisy, crowded, colorful area of everyday Turkish life. Also, there are Ottoman mosques, the Hisar Camii, the Haci Husmen Camii, the Kestane Pazari Camii,which has the mihrap from the Isa Bey Camii of Selcuk and the Kemeralti Camii. The 17th century caravansary in the market, Kizlaragasi Hani, has a reputation of having been the place of the slave market during the Ottoman Empire.

Sardis was on the cop of its glory. The Persians made Sardis the capital of the western districts of their empire. They made the city also the western terminal of the Great Postal Road that started in Susa in Elam near the Persian Gulf, where are now the oil fields. This road was so well organised that it took only a week to bring important messages. Alexander the Great defeated the Persians and ancient Lydia, together with all Asia-Minor, was conquered by this Macedonian King. After his death Sardis fell into the hands of the Seleucids of Syria. The Roman Era start­ed here in the second century B.C.  In Byzantine times Sardis became the centre of a bishopric. With the arrival and settling of Christianity, one of the Seven Churches of the Apocalypse was founded here. The town passed into the hands of the Turks.

The most important architectural works that were discovered here were the synagogue and the Gymnasium. Both buildings date from the third century A.D.. Other famous ruins are: the Byzantine Church, The House of Branzes, the Roman Stadium, the Roman and Byzantine Baths, and a Theatre built in the Hellenistic times and the Acropolis.The temple of Artemis is situated 2 kills south of the city. An Altar had existed already here since the end of the fifth century B.C.  The original Temple of Artemis was built in 300 B.C.. It was attached to the before­ mentioned altar and had its face to the west. Sardis had reached its zenith. The Sardians were of a very soft and weak character because of their wealth and fertility. Therefore, Sardis was a very suitable place for the Christians to settle.