Hadrian’s gate is one of the historical treasures of Turkey. It is located in Antalya city center.

Emperor Hadrian entered the city at this gate. It was built in 130 AD. It is one of the greatest monument of Antalya city.

I am sure that there used to be a glorious entrance in that period.

I would like to show you an interesting historical mystery that maybe much of you don’t know. As we mentioned before, this landscape is hosting an amazing history. It is an interesting point to find traces of an Egyptian god here, isn’t it?

Serapis is one of the important Egyptian gods. He was described as man with a vase on his head. You can see the figure of Serapis above. There are several temples that were dedicated to Serapis in this landscape. One of them is in Bergama and we also know this place as Red Hall Church or St.Jean Church (It is one of seven holy churches of Christianity). This building was built in the name of Serapis at the beginning then it was converted into church.

The other one is in Ephesus. It is thought that it was collapsed by an earthquake. Nowadays there is a project to reconstruct it but we don’t have sufficient info on it.

The oldest Serapis temple was built in Sinope in 4th century BC. Temple remains are being exhibited in Sinop Archeological museum garden today.

We are going back to the period of Constantinople invasion. Crusaders came to Constantinople and they invaded Constantinople instead of lasting the campaign. Crusaders ruined the capital of East Roman Empire and created a big destruction. Some Greeks could run away from Constantinople. They came to Trebizond that was another Greek colony in Small Asia. Finally they established Empire of Trebizond in 1204. Their purpose was to get Constantinople back sooner. This was the fact that it would take time to achieve this goal. They dominated the Black sea region and Crimean shores. They built family affairs by marriages. Ex- Byzantines built their own St.Sophia in Trebizond but it was smaller than the one in Constantinople.

Bithynians got Constantinople back in 1264 and some royal family members came back to Constantinople. Empire of Trebizond had lasted till 1461.

It is a great resurrection story in history.

Seven sleepers’ legend is common in Christianity and Islam. A church was built nearby Ephesus for seven sleepers.

We are going back to Ephesus and the year is 250 AD. The Roman soldiers were tracking seven Christians (the names were unknown) because they were sentenced to penalty due to their religion. They hid in a cave and they closed the cave. So soldiers couldn’t reach him, they led the Christians die by closing the entrance of the cave. Christians and their dog decided to sleep and think what to do later. They woke up and decided to buy something. He got shocked when he was out. Their money remained in the past and everybody was worshiping Jesus. The fact that 300 years passed during their sleep.

This is the version of Seven Sleepers in İzmir. This is the fact that there are different versions of this myth in religions and regions.

We are traveling to a place that is one of the mysterious places of the world. This mountain has a secret and even today it couldn’t be released.

We are on Mt.Nemrut that is located in Adıyaman county of Turkey. This is such a sight seeing place that you can find yourself in a different place like Egypt. Our time machine will take us in a period between ancient times and beginning of Christianity.

We meet a Commagene King I.Antiochos in this period. He was a king of a small state named Commagene Kingdom that had a symbol of lion. He had a tomb built on Mt. Nemrut and he furnished this tomb with lion statues and giant people statues. There are different rumors about the features of this tomb. He also had some secret tunnels built in the mountain. According to a theory, he was the member of a secret society that is still available today “Brotherhood Society”. He was the king who looked for eternity in his life. I can’t know if he had it actually but he is a famous king in history right now.

Do you know that Mt.Nemrut was built up to the astrological knowledge? There are astrological hints that support this theory. Also it is told that it has a connection to Christianity. When we travel in time, I don’t know if we can see the fact. According to a rumor, the real Christmas date is 6th of January.There are hints on this theory in the story of this mountain.Is it possible that aliens visited here? can it be a base of aliens? It is an interesting voyage for me, what about you?

This sightseeing place has still its own secrets and it seems that it won’t unearth them easily. Discover Turkey if you wanna find out them.

We are going back to 325 AD and we will witness an important event for Christianity; to bring holy relics to Constantinople. Queen Helena went to Jerusalem to find the cross that Jesus was crucified and holy grail by the wish of her son Constantin I.

She went to Jerusalem and followed the hints on historical event. She had stayed there for a year. She found some cross pieces and she made a test in order to realize the real cross that Jesus was crucified. A sick woman touched all pieces and she got well by a touch to a piece. That piece and a holy grail ( according to legend) were found and she brought them to Constantinople. She is also known as St.Helena of Constantinople.

According to the legend, Constantine I and St Helena hid the holy relics in a room under column of Constantine. Also it is said that there can be a church to hide those holy relics. I have to state that nothing has been found as we know (!).

It is an interesting event of history, isn’t it?

St.Paul was one of the dearest apostles of Christianity. Even though he wasn’t one of 12 apostles, he was one of the greatest servants of Christianity. He had a great effort to form a Christian community in this landscape. He addressed to public of important sites in Mediterranean region. So he could promulgate Christianity in a large scale.

He was citizen of Tarsus site and he focused on promulgating Jesus’ way. He was well known saint in this landscape. So you can find many places that were dedicated to St.Paul in this landscape. The most outstanding place is St.Paul well in Mersin. It was an important stop on pilgrim way to Jerusalem. Pilgrims drank the holy water and had a rest during the voyage.

His legacy is a honored name in history. Especially he had a deep impact in this landscape even today. Christianity became an universal religion thanks to his service.