Egypt, Israel and Turkey

DEPARTURE

We all assemble at the Airport on the night of xxxx 2018 for your flight to Cairo at  that departs at 0420hrs We arrive in the Land of the Pharaohs At Cairo International airport at 0810hrs and you will be Welcomed and assisted through immigration and customs by our representative, then escorted to your hotel.

After lunch, visit   the old Cairo there after market for textile shopping, offering cotton and linen products. Return to the hotel. Overnight:

The Great Pyramids.

After breakfast, visit the Great Pyramids of Giza and the Sphinx. We also visit an Oriental perfumery. Then precede to October 6 for leather products. Return to the hotel. Overnight: Cairo. Meal plan: Lunch at local restaurant /Dinner

Crossing from African to the Asian Continent

After breakfast you will start your drive towards Sinai Peninsula through the Suez Canal. This is the point we go under the waters of Red Sea as we move from the African Continent to the Asian Continent travelling all the way to the foot of Mt Sinai. You will have dinner and spend your evening at the hotel.

Mt. Sinai Climb

You will start the climb of Mt. Sinai at 1am. This is where the Ten Commandments were revealed. You will experience a wonderful mountain trip and a magnificent view. On this day, we visit sites in St. Catherine which is the place where Moses climbed up the mountain to receive the Ten Commandments.

In the same area, there is the famous Greek Orthodox Monastery which is built around the Burning Bush and the well where Moses met his wife Zipporah (daughter of Jethro, the priest of Median).We will also visit the place where the Israelites camped when Moses went to receive the Ten Commandments. We will then proceed to Taba resort city (boarder of Egypt& Israel) where you will swim and the red sea. Have dinner and stay overnight.

Eilate-Agri-tour-Jericho-Bethlehem

We start off the morning very early with crossing the border Israel and proceed to Kibbutz Yotvataa. Here you can see how ideology, perfect organization, hard work and faith can turn the desert to a fertile land plus, get to see impressive high technology in agricultural activities.

Thereafter, we embark on a long distance drive past Masada, and  stop at the Dead sea, This is the deepest point on earth, (FLOAT ) , Jericho view the temptation mountain of Jesus, visit the sycamore tree of Zachecus and well if Elisha and Qumran is where dead-sea scrolls were found back to the hotel for dinner.

(Overnight in Bethlehem).

Bethlehem –Bethany –Ein Karem.

After your breakfast start your tour of Bethlehem the city of David, visit the birth place of Jesus marked by the Church of Nativity. Get to kneel at the place of birth of Christ in the Grotto of the Nativity.

Visit the shepherd’s field in Beth-Sahour then drive to visit Ein Karim, the place where John the Baptist was born. We will visit the “St. John in the Mountains” church, built on the place where the house of St. John was standing. We will also visit the Church of Visitation, where St. Mary visited Elisabeth on our way back we visit Bethany where Jesus Raised Lazarus. We shall then return to the hotel

Jerusalem-Mt. Olives-Wailing Wall-Garden of Gethsemane-Way of the Cross

We will begin the tour in Jerusalem with a majestic view from the Mount of Olives seeing all over the ancient and modern Jerusalem, the center of the biblical world. You will visit the Chapel of the Ascension, the Pater Noster where Jesus taught his disciples the Lord’s Prayer. You will see the Lord’s Prayer in different languages including Aramaic the language that Jesus spoke and Kiswahili. We will also visit the Church of Dominius Flevit where Jesus wept over the city of Jerusalem then walk down the “Palm Sunday Road” to the Garden of Gethsemane where he prayed the Prayer of Agony and was betrayed by Judas. You will get to visit the Church of All Nations where Christ prayed on the night of his betrayal (Luke 22: 40-46). Thereafter, we shall drive on to the Kidron valley to Mt. Zion and visit the upper room where Jesus had his last supper with the disciples and where the Holy Spirit descended on them and they started speaking in tongues.

We proceed within the walls of the old city of Jerusalem. You will get a great view on the Temple area with the Dome of the Rock, the Mosque of El-Aksa and visit the Western Wall then proceed to the via Dolorosa (way of the cross) following the 14 stations of the cross from Pilates Judgment Hall to the Garden Tomb and Gordon’s Golgotha then later return to hotel for overnight.

Jaffa-Caesarea-Mt.Carmel-Tel Megiddo-Church of Annunciation.

After Breakfast we visit old city of Jaffa, one of the ancient gateways to the Holy Land: Through its port the Cedar trees for Salomon’s Temple were brought, the prophet Jonas tried to flee God, but most important: It was in Jaffa where Christianity began to be spread among the nations. Here St. Peter lived in the house of Simon the Tanner and had the “Vision of the Flesh”, and here he made his first miracle by healing the little girl. Today Jaffa’s renovated alley-ways attract many artists, who have their galleries there. We drive to Caesarea Maritime, the magnificent port-city built by King Herod the Great.

From here St. Peter went to Rome and started with his first miracles. In Caesarea’s well-preserved theater an inscription of the procurator Pontius Pilate was found. We continue to Tell Megiddo, one of Israel’s most ancient cities, where we can find traces of fortifications left by the Canaanites, King Salomon, King Ahab, and more, as well as a very sophisticated water system, some claim was built by the king Salomon.

This strategic place has always been the scenery of war, and according to John’s Revelation, it is here where the last battle shall take place – the battle of Armageddon –We continue to Haifa the Mt. Carmel. Stella Mary’s.  And after noon drive to visit Nazareth for lunch and, visiting there the basilica and the grotto of the annunciation- the old Synagogue and Mary’s well.  Overnight: Nazareth. Meal plan: Breakfast/Dinner.

Sea of Galilee-Capernaum- River Jordan

The Sea of Galilee is rich in memories of the three years of Jesus’ Ministry around its shores. We will begin this day with a boat ride on the Sea of Galilee from Tiberius to Capernaum, where Jesus dwelt after he left Nazareth and did many signs and wonders. We will get to visit the ancient Synagogue and the nearby house of Peter.

Next, visit the chapel of loaves and fishes at Tabgha as well as the nearby Mount of Beatitudes, the scene of the Sermon on the Mount (Mathew 5). Our next stop will be River Jordan where those who want to be Re-Baptized can baptize. On our way to the hotel we will stop in Cana of Galilee where the First miracle was performed by Jesus. Return to Nazareth for overnight.

Final Day.

After Breakfast check out and head to Ben Gurion Airport for your final departure after the Holy land experience.

ARRIVAL ISTANBUL

Welcome to Turkey. Arrive in Istanbul Ataturk Airport; our representative will meet you at the airport with your name sign and private transfer to the hotel for overnight stay in Istanbul.

 ISTANBUL FULLDAY TOUR

After breakfast, pick up from hotel. The only city in the world located on two continents is Istanbul, which has been the capital of three great empires – Roman, Byzantine and Ottoman – for more than 2000 years.
Our tour starts with Hippodrome square where used to take place for chariot races and the Byzantine riots during Roman & Byzantine period.

Only a short walk away, we will visit the Topkapi Palace, where Orthodox shrines are kept: the rod of the prophet Moses, the honest hand of the Baptist of the Lord John and part of his holy chapter, part of the relics of St. Apostle Peter, the sword of King David the Psalmist; measure for the grain of the forefather of Abraham). Topkapi Palace, was the seat of the Ottoman sultans. Sultan Mehmed II, the conqueror of Constantinople, built it between 1460 and 1478.

We will see (outside) the Church of Hagia Eirene a Byzantine church located within in the first courtyard of Topkapı Palace. Hagia Eirene, which was also known as the “Old Church” served as the cathedral of Constantinople until the inauguration of Hagia Sophia in 360. First Ecumenical Council of Constantinople in 381 was held in Hagia Eirene.  The relics of St. John Chrysostom, brought to Constantinople from Asia Minor in 438, were first housed in Hagia Eirene before being transferred to the Holy Apostles.

ISTANBUL TOUR AND DEPARTURE

After breakfast, check out from hotel rooms and start a new tour First, visit the Patriarchate at Fener, which is the seat of Orthodox Christianity since Constantine The Great’s declaration as the religion of Roman Empire. Then visit Church of Panagia of Blachernae, the best-known and most celebrated shrine of the Holy Virgin located near Golden Horn. The church is famed with the hagiasma (fountain of holy water), good to cure health problems, and the Hagion Lousma (sacred bath) good to clean the soul where the emperor also came to purify himself.

Then see St. Savior in Chora (Kariye Museum) originally a Byzantine monastery with fantastic mosaics and frescoes portraying scenes from a bible, the life and miracles of Jesus. Then visit Church of St. Mary Pammacaristos, once housed the Patriarchate for a while after the conquest. The Pareссlesion besides being one of the most important examples of Constantinople’s Palaiologan architecture has the largest amount of Byzantine mosaics after the Hagia Sophia and Chora Church in Istanbul. See the Monastery of the Mother of God at the spring or simply Zoodochos Pege is an Eastern Orthodox sanctuary in Istanbul, Turkey.

Life-Giving Spring – the name of the temple in honor of the Mother of God. In the Orthodox tradition, the Mother of God is called the Life-giving Spring; they glorify it as the Source of life, for Christ was born from Her – the Way, Truth and Life.

At the end of the tour, transfer to the airport,

Arrival back home