Arrival and accommodation in Antioch.

After breakfast, we leave the hotel for the first visit of the day, the rock church of St. Peter. It was used as a meeting place in early Christianity and is considered one of the first churches in history. The second visit of the day is the Archaeological Museum of Antioch. Antioch was the third largest city in the Roman Empire during the Pax Romana (Roman Peace). The museum’s huge collection of high-quality Roman mosaics takes us back to the glorious days of Antioch. This tour also gives us the opportunity to taste a very particular cuisine. We will have lunch in a typical restaurant and then do a walking tour to see the old streets of the city. Here we can taste the famous sweets of the area, especially Kunefe, before we return to the hotel for a short rest. For dinner, we will go out and enjoy a special dinner with local food and Raki, the national drink of Turkey.

After breakfast, we depart for Şanlıurfa. A 3-hour drive will bring us to Gaziantep, where we have our first to visit, the Zeugma Mosaic Museum. This is another museum with an extensive collection of high-quality Roman mosaics. Gaziantep has a well-deserved reputation for its rich and distinctive cuisine. We will have lunch in one of the best local restaurants in the city. After lunch, we have a two-hour drive to Şanlıurfa. Upon arrival in Şanlıurfa, we will check in to our hotel.

After breakfast, we have the first visit of the day, Göbeklitepe. It is perhaps the most important archaeological site in the world today. It is almost 12 thousand years old. We still don’t know exactly what the purpose of its construction was. One theory tells us that it was the first sanctuary in history; it is the place where the “sacred” was born. The second visit of the day is the Urfa museum, a huge, modern museum with excellent exhibitions, especially the sections about Göbeklitepe and the neolithic era. Then we will have lunch in a local restaurant and a 3-hour drive to Kahta. Arrival and accommodation in Kahta.

After breakfast, we have our first stop at the Severan Bridge, which is a Roman construction built in the 2nd century AD. Then we have a second short stop in Arsemia, ruins of an ancient Hellenistic-Persian city. Later, we have the most important visit of the day: we will climb Mount Nimrud to visit a tomb-sanctuary flanked by huge statues that was built by King Antiochus I Theos of Commagene. After the climb we will lunch, and commence the 4-hour drive to Mardin. Arrival and accommodation in Mardin.

After breakfast, we depart for the visit to Mesopotamia. After a journey of 2.5 hours, we will arrive at the Syriac-Orthodox monastery of Mor Gabriel. This is another unique experience on this tour. Assyrians (Süryanis in Turkish) are people who have very ancient traditions; they still speak a variation of the language of Jesus Christ, Aramaic, and still celebrate their masses in this language. Our second stop is the city of Midyat. We will have our lunch here, followed by a walking tour of the old town. In the afternoon, we will visit another Syriac-Orthodox monastery, Mor Hananyo (Daryülzafaran en turco). Then we will return to our hotel in Mardin, and guests will have free time to walk through the old streets of the city. Accommodation in Mardin.

Airport transfer. Flight to Istanbul.