Ancient splendors

The Great Pyramids, the Blue Mosque, the Parthenon, Ephesus, Santorini and Rhodes. Any of these destinations would constitute the trip of a lifetime, but on a cruise that included Turkey, Egypt and Greece, we saw all that and more.

We visited where the Apostles talked; where Roman legions, chariots and gladiators fought; where Cleopatra, Julius Caesar, Socrates, Muhammad and Homer walked. All of these historic connections were offered on Crystal Serenity’s 12-day Temples of Gods & Pharaohs cruise.

Istanbul, which as Constantinople was Europe’s largest and richest city in the Middle Ages, is the only city in the world to straddle two continents. Daily, 3 million passengers use the city ferries between the Asian and European sides. On the European side is where we board the 1,080-passenger Crystal Serenity.

Our first excursion begins with the long entrance line at the Blue Mosque. In “Turkey: Bright Sun, Strong Tea,” Tom Brosnahan wrote: “I discovered the magic … one day as I approached the mosque from the Hippodrome, … my eye rose up the broad staircase and penetrated the tall portal of the mosque courtyard. Through the portal in the center of the courtyard was the domed sadirvan (ablutions fountain). Above its dome rose another dome, the one atop the main portal into the mosque sanctuary. I approached the steps and climbed them slowly, looking ahead, watching in amazement as dome after dome appeared above the two I had already noticed. A cascade of domes and semi-domes billowed heavenward until the mosque’s great dome appeared triumphantly above all.

“As I entered the courtyard, the two slender minarets flanking the mosque shot heavenward insistently: Up! Look up!”

The next stop, the Church of Holy Wisdom — Ayosofya in Turkish or Hagia Sophia in Greek — makes a similar demand. It was intended to be the grandest church ever built, and it took 1,000 years for that intent to be rivaled by St. Peter’s Basilica in Rome.

Later a mosque and now a museum, it is still one of the world’s greatest buildings, especially considering its sixth-century construction. Its massive dome rises 210 feet above the floor; the Statue of Liberty could fit inside with room to spare.

Our excursion continues to the Basilica Cistern, once Topkapi Palace’s water supply and now a cool respite of platforms built to view the water below plus 336 artfully carved, illuminated columns, two of them with famed sculptures of Medusa.

The sprawling Topkapi Palace with its hundreds of rooms was home to the sultans of the Ottoman Empire and their hundreds of concubines, children and servants for 400 years. Visitors clamor for the harem, meaning “private,” living quarters.

One of the heavily jeweled and gilded rooms features a golden cage, from behind which the sultan watched the dancing concubines.

Among the treasures on display are the emerald Topkapi Dagger (made famous in the 1964 film “Topkapi”) and the 86-carat Spoonmaker Diamond.

We pose for photos under the golden-roofed pagoda on the terrace where 17th-century sultans dined after Ramadan sunsets.

From the next port of Kusadasi, it’s an easy bus ride to the ruins at the ancient city of Ephesus, which, after Constantinople (now Istanbul) was the most important city of the fifth- and sixth-century Byzantine Empire.

The Bible’s book of Revelation mentions the seven churches of Asia, meaning the seven communities of Christians in the province; Ephesus was one of the seven. The Apostle Paul lived here for a time, the Apostle John wrote the Gospel of John here, and he is said to be buried nearby at the Basilica of St. John.

Ephesus had one of the largest outdoor theaters in the ancient world, seating 25,000. Most of it has been excavated, making it easy to imagine the crowds and the gladiators and actors entertaining them.

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