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Exciting Opportunity for HMML Millennium Club Members! |
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Experience the Ancient Culture and Heritage of
June 1 - June 15, 2010
Participants will arrange their own travel to Istanbul, arriving no later than May 28 if joining the optional Armenian Heritage Tour, or no later than June 1 if joining for the main tour only. May 31: departure from USA, arrival in Istanbul the next day June 2: Evening flight from Istanbul to Diyarbakir (ancient Amida), today the principal city of Turkey’s Kurdish region. Overnight in an historic renovated caravanserai hotel. June 3: Tour the Great Mosque of Diyarbakir, the Meryem Ana Syriac Orthodox Church (where HMML digitized 300 manuscripts), the Chaldean Catholic Church (where HMML digitized 30 manuscripts), and the massive basalt city walls. Drive to Hasankeyf, passing a rare Seljuk-era bridge along the way. Hasankeyf, an astonishing ancient city perched above the Tigris, will soon be submerged by an artificial lake. Lunch at a restaurant along the Tigris. Drive to Midyat, principal city of the Tur ‘Abdin, and visit its churches and monuments. Overnight in Midyat. June 4: Visit the Syriac Orthodox monastery of Mor Gabriel, one of the oldest monasteries in continual existence, where HMML is digitizing 250 manuscripts. See the 5th century church with extraordinary 6th century mosaics created by Byzantine artists. Meet Metropolitan Samuel Aktash, Abbot of the Monastery and Bishop of the Tur ‘Abdin (“Mountain of the Servants [of God]”), a region of ancient villages, churches and monasteries. Visit the villages and churches of Saint Jacob at Salah, Mor Loozor, and the Church of the Virgin at Hah. Overnight in Midyat. June 5: Drive to Nusaybin (ancient Nisibis) on the Syrian border and visit the Church of Saint Jacob of Nisibis. Then drive to the Roman/Byzantine military settlement of Dara, built to garrison the border with the Persian Empire, which features fantastic underground granaries and cisterns, and then drive to the recently-restored Monastery of Mor Augen, set high in the escarpment of the Tur ‘Abdin with an unforgettable view over the Mesopotamian Plain. Overnight in Mardin, a formerly largely Christian city built around a natural fortress overlooking the plain. June 6: Visit the 4th century Monastery of Deyrulzaferan (the “Saffron Monastery”), seat of the Syriac Orthodox Patriarch until the early 20th century. HMML has digitized the monastery’s 250 manuscripts. In Mardin itself, see the 6th century Church of the Forty Martyrs (Kirklar Kilesi), where HMML digitized the important collection of 1200 manuscripts formerly belonging to the patriarchal library. Meet its pastor, Chorbishop Gabriel Akyüz, the only priest remaining in Mardin. See the two old Medreses (Islamic schools) famous for their superb architecture and the City Museum housed in the former residence of the Syriac Catholic archbishop. Drive to Urfa, ancient Edessa. Overnight in Urfa. June 7: Edessa was the center of Syriac Christianity in the early centuries and then an important Islamic pilgrimage center. Visit the Museum, the Pool of Abraham with its sacred carp and surrounding gardens, surviving Christian sites, the Citadel, and the famous bazaar. Overnight in Urfa. June 8: Drive to the Syrian border, pass through border formalities, and drive to Aleppo (ancient Beroea). Overnight in Aleppo. June 9: Tour Aleppo, an ancient and cosmopolitan city with several vibrant Christian communities. Visit the churches where HMML has worked, including the 15th century Armenian Cathedral of the Forty Martyrs, the ancient Citadel, Great Mosque, and superb Bazaar. June 10: Drive to Qala‘at Simaan, site of the magnificent four-naved basilica of St Symeon the Stylite, with stunning views across the northern Syrian plain. Visit one or more of the Byzantine “Dead Cities” in the region, with their surprisingly well-preserved ancient churches, monasteries, and civic buildings. Overnight in Aleppo. June 11: Drive to Hama to see the famous Noria (water wheels), then to Homs for the ancient Church of the Virgin, where HMML has digitized almost 500 manuscripts, continuing on to Palmyra (modern Tadmor), the extraordinary ancient city of Queen Zenobia (another UNESCO World Heritage site). Overnight in Palmyra. June 12: Tour Palmyra, walk its colonnaded main street, see temples and the unique burial towers. Overnight in Palmyra. June 13: Drive to Damascus via the Christian village of Sadad and the Monastery of Mar Musa, both with famous 12th century frescoes, among the finest in the Middle East; stop in Maaloula and Saidnaya, ancient Christian villages. Overnight in Damascus. June 14: Visit the Great Mosque with magnificent mosaics, the Christian Quarter and the Church of Saint Paul, the Bazaar, the National Museum (with the frescoed Synagogue from Dura Europos). Overnight in Damascus. June 15: Tour ends. Drive to Beirut or fly home from Damascus.
May 29-June 1: Optional Armenian Heritage Tour May 29: Fly from Istanbul to Kars in the morning. Kars was a medieval Armenian city and later came under Russian control in the 19th century. See the 10th century Armenian church of the Apostles, now used as a mosque, and the 19th century Russian buildings and homes. May 30: Drive from Kars to Ani, former capital of an extensive Armenian kingdom but then abandoned for centuries. Ani is known as the “city of 1001 churches” because of its unique collection of well-preserved classical Armenian buildings, which has made it a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Because Ani lies close to the border with the modern Republic of Armenia, it was formerly in no-man’s land between Turkey and the USSR and difficult to visit until the end of the Cold War. Overnight in Kars. May 31: Drive from Kars to Dogubeyazit to see the Ishak Pasha Saray, a haunting 17th century mountain palace. Continue to Van, capital of the Iron Age kingdom of Urartu, through beautiful mountainous scenery. Overnight in Van. June 1: Visit the ruins of Old Van, destroyed in 1915 during the Armenian Genocide, and the ancient Urartian citadel above the city. Boat to Akdamar Island to see the recently-restored Armenian Church with famous exterior carvings. June 2: Drive to Diyarbakir to join the main tour.
Approximate Package Price
Price includes:
Price does not include:
____February 1, 2010
RSVP to Linda Orzechowski, lorzechowsk@csbsju.edu HMML accepts VISA, MasterCard, Discover and American Express. Checks should be made out to Hill Museum & Manuscript Library.
Questions about the trip?
Hill Museum & Manuscript Library
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Father Columba at Mor Gabriel Monastery in Spring, 2008
Hasankeyf, on the Tigris River
The ancient bazaar of Aleppo
Palmyra
Basilica of Saint Symeon the Stylite, Syria
View of the Mesopotamian Plain from Deyulzaferan, Mardin, Turkey
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