In the footsteps of St Paul

Saying the Nicene Creed in Nicea, standing in the footsteps of St Paul on the shore at Alexandria Troas and worshipping on a boat on the Bosphorus were just three of the highlights for a group of pilgrims from Abergavenny, Griffithstown and Chepstow on a tour of Turkey.

The intensive tour, led by Canon Jeremy Winston, Vicar of Abergavenny, included the lunar landscape of Cappadocia, the Roman wonders of Ephesus and Aphrodisas, the scene of Homeric Troy, and the startling whiteness of the travertine terraces of Pammukale, which seem to appear on every tourist poster of Turkey ever produced.

But it was in the visits to the ruins of the Churches of the Revelation and following in the footsteps of St Paul that the most special moments of the pilgrimage occured.

Standing on top of a barren hill where the city of Colossae once thrived, looking out over the same landscape St Paul knew, while reading part of his letter to the Colossians was wonderful, as was paddling in the sea at Alexandria Troas, where Paul had his vision which was to lead to the shifting of Christianity from Asia to Europe.

The pilgrims celebrated the Holy Eucharist in Nicea where, in 325AD, delegates to one of the great early councils of the Christian Church formulated the Nicene Creed which is said in countless Anglican churches every Sunday.

The Mass was also celebrated in a tiny chapel at the House of Mary, in Ephesus (where, by tradition, the Virgin Mary lived after the Resurrection), in a restaurant, and on a boat on the Bosphorus – luckily it wasn’t too choppy!

The pilgrimage ended with three days in Istanbul, visiting the wonders of Hagia Sophia and the Blue Mosque and practising haggling skills in the Grand Bazaar.

It was an exhausting but fulfilling time and plans are already afoot for next year’s journey – perhaps this time to somewhere in mainland Europe.

Caroline Woollard