🇹🇷Turkish Seljuk Pilgrimage Site St. John's Church Ruins

St. John's Church, which I visited while traveling to Selcuk, Turkey, a famous pilgrimage destination. I entered the Church of St. John through the Gate of Persecution, which was built to commemorate the martyred Christians. After the death of the Apostle John, a small wooden church was built first, and in the 6th century AD, Emperor Justinian built the current church, which has six domes and is said to be in the shape of a cross when viewed from above. In the 14th century, it was used as a mosque by Islam, and later, it collapsed due to a great earthquake and was invaded, so reconstruction was impossible, and it only remains in its current form. Many parts of the church collapsed due to the earthquake, but just by looking at the doors and standing pillars inside the church, I can understand the architectural style of that time, and I was lost in my imagination thinking about how many people must have passed through this gate. The materials used to build the church were taken from the Temple of Artemis, which I found ironic. Ephesus was originally a place where Artemis was worshipped, so it was difficult to spread the gospel. (Currently, only one column remains from the Temple of Artemis, which can be seen from the Church of the Apostle John) It is very interesting that even though Turkey is an Islamic country, you can find many traces of Christianity everywhere. Regardless of religion, it was the Church of the Apostle John of Seljuk that would be good to visit at least once. #Overseas travel #World travel #Turkey travel #Turkey #Turkey travel #Recommended Turkey travel destination #St. John's Church #Historical site