Day 5 - Izmir - Sardis - Philadelphia - Laodicea - Hierapolis (B, L, D)

After breakfast, we have a short city tour of Izmir (ancient Smyrna), home to one of the oldest continually open churches of the revelation. We also visit Mount Pagus, the site of the martyrdom of St. Polycarp. We continue on to Sardis, the capital of ancient Lydia which also ranked as one of the Seven Sister Churches and as a center of importance for various religious groups. Here  we visit the temple of Cybele and Diana (which later became a Church), the beautiful synagogue, and the gymnasium. From Sardis we continue on to Philadelphia, the city of brotherly love founded during the reign of Attalus II. After lunch we drive on to Laodicea where we  visit its theater, odeon, and gymnasium. Our excursion next takes us pass Hieropolis, and finally to Pamukkale where we check into our hotel for our dinner and overnight stay.