Religious sightseeing with Pope Benedict XVI in Turkey

Pope Benedict XVI's trip to Turkey is heavy with controversy and political meaning, but it is above all a religious pilgrimage. Here are some of the places that Benedict will visit in the Muslim country, along with their religious significance:
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EPHESUS, Wednesday, Nov. 29

Ephesus, an ancient metropolis near Turkey's Aegean coast, became an important center of Christianity in the early years after Jesus' death. St. John the Apostle and St. Paul the Apostle both lived here, and the Virgin Mary is thought to have spent her last years in a house nearby.

Ephesus was one of the seven churches mentioned in the "Book of Revelations." All seven churches, or communities, were in modern-day Turkey.

Paul's "Epistle to the Ephesians," thought to have been written while he was imprisoned in Rome, expresses his love for the church and urges the residents of Ephesus to find salvation through Christ's teachings.

Ephesus is perhaps best known for its ancient pagan ruins and for once being home to the Temple of Artemis, one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World. Almost nothing remains of the temple.
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HOUSE OF THE VIRGIN MARY, Wednesday, Nov. 29

Nestled in the woods between Ephesus and the town of Selcuk is a structure that many believe was the last home of the Virgin Mary. A biblical passage (John 19:26-27) says Mary lived in the area, as did John the Apostle, who took her into his family after Jesus' death.

Benedict is scheduled to visit the site and give a small mass and homily on Nov. 29, his only open-air event of the trip. He will be the third pope in modern times to make a pilgrimage here — Paul VI came in 1967, and John Paul II came in 1979.

This site is also considered holy by Muslims, who revere Mary as the mother of a great prophet.
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ISTANBUL, Wednesday, Nov. 29-Friday, Dec. 1

Today one of the world's largest Muslim metropolises, Istanbul was once the center of the Christian world. Benedict still refers to the city as "Constantinople," its name before it was conquered by Ottoman Turks in 1453.

Benedict will visit the following sites in the city:
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CHURCH OF ST. GEORGE

The home church of Bartholomew I, leader of the world's 300 million Orthodox Christians.

The two major branches of Christianity represented by Bartholomew and Benedict split in 1054 over differences in opinion on the power of the papacy. The primary goal of Benedict's trip to Turkey is to meet with Bartholomew in an attempt to breach the divide and reunite the churches.
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HAGHIA SOPHIA

The Haghia Sophia was the world's largest church for more than 1,000 years until the completion of St. Peter's in the Vatican. The church's present incarnation was built by the Emperor Justinian in the 6th century. Commonly referred to as one of the world's most beautiful buildings, it was converted to a mosque in 1453.

Turkey's secularist founder, Ataturk, converted the Haghia Sophia into a museum in 1935. Religious services are prohibited, so Benedict will visit as a tourist and perform a service in a smaller cathedral later.
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ST. ESPRIT CATHEDRAL

Benedict follows in the footsteps of his predecessors Paul VI and John Paul II by delivering a mass at this cathedral, scheduled for the morning of Dec. 1. The cathedral was built in 1846 and is the main building of the Roman Catholic Church in Istanbul, though not the largest Catholic church in the city.