Group Photos

(These will be added once the trip begins)

360 Photos

(These will be added once the trip begins)

Day 3 – Wednesday, June 10: Istanbul: St. Sophia Church, Blue Mosque, Topkapi Palace, Archaeological Museum, Grand Bazaar

The Stadium at Laodicea

There are ancient stadiums still to be seen around the Roman world. A “stadia” was about 625 Roman feet (185 metres or 606.9 feet), or 125 paces, and was equal to about one-eighth of a mile. Additionally, a Roman mile was 4,855 feet or 1480 meters, or 8 Roman stadia, or 1000 Roman paces, or 2000 Roman steps.

Paul references “running the race” a few times in the NT. One of those passages is 1 Corinthians 9:24-25:  “Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one gets the prize? Run in such a way as to get the prize. Everyone who competes in the games goes into strict training. They do it to get a crown that will not last, but we do it to get a crown that will last forever.”

This un-excavated  stadium at Laodicea gives us a sense of how many spectators could watch the “Games.”  Imagine sitting on these benches and watching a running race here in the days of Paul!