Catholic Pilgrimage to Turkey 2027: St Paul Route, Ephesus and the House of the Virgin Mary for Parishes

A Catholic pilgrimage to Turkey for a parish usually lasts 8 to 10 days and links Istanbul, Cappadocia, the St Paul route through Konya and Pisidia, Laodicea, Hierapolis and Ephesus with the House of the Virgin Mary. Our reference programme, part of our biblical tour packages to Turkey, is a private 10-day tour from $2,750 per person (about €2,471). For groups of 20 to 45 pilgrims we send a written net group quote within 24 hours: message us on WhatsApp with dates, number of people and departure city.

We are a licensed A-group TÜRSAB agency (no. 15751) with an office in Istanbul, and we have run private tours since 2010. We work directly with parish priests, diocesan pilgrimage offices, Holy Week brotherhoods (cofradías) and Catholic schools, and also with agencies in Spain, Mexico, Colombia and Argentina through our group travel to Turkey for agencies section. This page is written for the organiser: which route to choose, where Mass can be celebrated, which documents each pilgrim needs and what goes into the quote.

Which route does an 8 to 10-day pilgrimage to Turkey follow?

The classic route follows the Acts of the Apostles and the Book of Revelation more than the motorway map. St Paul was born in Tarsus, preached in Iconium (Konya) and in Pisidian Antioch on his first missionary trip, and lived for about three years in Ephesus. Ephesus is also where tradition places St John and the Virgin Mary. The Seven Churches of Revelation all lie in western Turkey, a few hours by coach from one another.

This is the outline of our 10-day tour, which we adapt for each group:

That programme is published as our private 10-day biblical tour. For parishes we usually make two changes: we add a morning in Istanbul for the Phanar and Mass, and we drop one of the less visited churches if the group has many older pilgrims. Day 5 is the longest, with many hours on the coach between Cappadocia and Pamukkale; with an older group it is better to sleep in Konya and split the drive in two.

Istanbul: Hagia Sophia, the Phanar and Mass at St Anthony of Padua

Hagia Sophia was the great church of Constantinople for almost a thousand years and is a mosque today. Foreign visitors pay an entry fee (about €25 in 2026, which may change) and walk the upper gallery, where the Byzantine mosaics are; the ground floor is kept for prayer. Friday around noon, the time of the main weekly prayer, is a poor moment for a group.

A short coach ride away, by the Golden Horn, stands the Ecumenical Patriarchate at the Phanar, with the Church of St George, seat of the Orthodox Patriarch of Constantinople. For a Catholic group it is a visit that gives context, because the dialogue between Rome and Orthodoxy has its home here. The former Chora church (Kariye) reopened as a mosque in 2024, and part of its mosaics can be seen again.

For the group's Mass, the reference point is the basilica of St Anthony of Padua on İstiklal Avenue, the largest Catholic church in the city. It has regular Masses in several languages, but we have not found a fixed Mass in Spanish. The usual arrangement is that the priest travelling with the group celebrates at a free time slot or in a chapel that we request from the parish weeks ahead. The Cathedral of the Holy Spirit in Harbiye is the alternative.

Cappadocia and Konya: rock-cut churches and Iconium

In Cappadocia Christian communities carved churches and monasteries into the volcanic tuff, and the frescoes of the Göreme Open-Air Museum tell the life of Christ in colours that can still be read. Underground cities such as Kaymaklı served as refuges. Some chapels are tiny, so the guide explains outside and pilgrims go in by turns.

Konya is ancient Iconium, where Paul and Barnabas preached according to chapter 14 of Acts. Today it is a devout city, the city of Rumi, and little of its Christian past is visible; the small Catholic Church of St Paul exists, but it is worth checking beforehand whether it will be open. Pisidian Antioch, next to Yalvaç, does keep the ruins of the basilica linked to Paul's preaching in the synagogue (Acts 13).

Laodicea, Hierapolis and the Martyrium of St Philip

Laodicea is the "lukewarm" church of Revelation. Excavations in recent years have uncovered colonnaded streets, two theatres and a large early fourth-century church that you can see well in an hour. A few kilometres away, Hierapolis rises above the white travertines of Pamukkale.

Hierapolis is home to the Martyrium of St Philip, at the top of the hill, built according to tradition where the apostle died. You climb a long slope and a long staircase, and at midday in summer the heat is heavy. With pilgrims of limited mobility we arrange for a small party to climb with the guide while the others stay at the theatre. Italian archaeologists announced in 2011 the discovery of a tomb they identify as Philip's, next to the church.

Can you celebrate Mass at the House of the Virgin Mary in Ephesus?

Yes, and for almost every Catholic pilgrimage it is the central moment of the trip. The House of the Virgin Mary (Meryem Ana Evi), on Mount Bülbül a few kilometres from Selçuk, is a Marian shrine visited by three popes: Paul VI, John Paul II and Benedict XVI. Spanish diocesan programmes, such as the Vitoria pilgrimage in 2020 and the Franciscan one from Barcelona in 2024, include the Eucharist there.

A group Mass is not improvised at the gate. The shrine has its own Masses, and a celebration by a group with its own priest is requested in advance; we make the request and fit the time around the Ephesus visit. Online schedules disagree, so the final time goes into the final programme. Entry is paid at the shrine's own gate, because it is not a Ministry of Culture museum.

The same day you visit the ancient city of Ephesus (€40 entry in 2026, according to muze.gov.tr) and the Basilica of St John in Selçuk, built over the apostle's traditional tomb. For those short of time there is the 2-day biblical Ephesus and Pamukkale tour, with flights from Istanbul, from $720. On 15 August, the feast of the Assumption, the shrine is packed: a beautiful day for those who seek it and a difficult one for a group of 45.

Antioch and Tarsus: are they worth adding?

Antioch (Antakya), where the disciples were first called Christians, and Tarsus, Paul's birthplace, are in the south-east, more than 1,000 km from Istanbul. They only make sense with domestic flights and add at least two days. In Tarsus you see St Paul's Well and the church named after him, now a museum.

Antakya suffered very severe damage in the February 2023 earthquakes and rebuilding continues. Before putting St Peter's Grotto into a programme we check what is open that year. For a first parish pilgrimage, a calm programme in the west works better.

How much does a pilgrimage to Turkey cost in 2027?

A group's price depends mainly on hotels, season, number of paying travellers and domestic flights, which is why we do not publish a group price: we calculate it for your dates and send a written net quote within 24 hours. For reference, these are our private packages per person, converted at the ECB rate of 29 October 2026 (€1 = $1.113) and the Banxico FIX rate of late October (about 18.65 pesos to the dollar):

Prices vary by season, hotel and what is included; ask us for today's price. They include hotel with breakfast, lunches on touring days, domestic flights, private transfers and a guide; international flights and tips are not included. The shorter version, the 7-day Seven Churches tour, leaves out Istanbul and Cappadocia. All other programmes are in our Turkey tour packages.

In a group of 20 to 45, the coach and guide are shared among more people and the price per head falls compared with a private tour. Free places for the priest or group leader are negotiated in each offer, and the deposit and payment schedule is set in the written offer. We compare routes and prices for groups leaving from Spain and Mexico in our article on group trips to Turkey from Spain and Mexico.

Documents, flights and money from Spain and Latin America

Spanish citizens need no visa for tourist stays of up to 90 days in any 180-day period, according to Türkiye's Ministry of Foreign Affairs (mfa.gov.tr, checked October 2026). Spain is also on its list of countries whose citizens may enter with their national identity card, so the DNI is enough. Even so, ask each pilgrim to confirm with the airline, and to carry a passport if the trip is combined with another country.

Mexican citizens need a visa: the 30-day e-Visa from evisa.gov.tr or a visa from the embassy. Colombians, Argentines, Peruvians and Chileans with ordinary passports enter visa-free for up to 90 days, according to the same source. In a mixed group, check the nationality of each passport, not the country of residence.

Turkish Airlines flies direct to Istanbul from Madrid, Barcelona, Valencia, Málaga and Bilbao, about four hours from Madrid, and Pegasus links Madrid and Barcelona with Sabiha Gökçen airport. Turkish Airlines also connects Mexico City and Cancún with Istanbul; from Bogotá the flight stops in Panama.

How we organise the group: coach, guide, priest and rooming list

For a group of up to 27 pilgrims we use a 27-seat midibus; from there up to 45, a 46-seat coach. The group has a licensed Spanish-speaking guide for the whole trip, not a different one in each city, and on request we add a guide-lecturer for the biblical explanations. The priest or chaplain sets the spiritual rhythm: Masses, prayer on the coach and readings at each site.

Before departure we ask for the rooming list with doubles, twins and singles, plus allergies, diets and reduced mobility. We plan the Mass calendar day by day with the priest and put it in writing in the programme. For mosques, remind the pilgrims: shoulders and knees covered, a headscarf for women and shoes off.

If your parish travels with an agency in Spain or Mexico, we also work through that agency at net rates; we explain how on our group travel to Turkey for agencies page. If you would first like to see the general approach to a Christian trip, we cover it in Christian tours of Turkey. Protestant church groups from Korea have their own page, with the Seven Churches, Paul and the cost, on a pilgrimage to Turkey for Korean church groups.

To request your quote, message us on WhatsApp or through our contact page with approximate dates, number of pilgrims, departure city and whether you want Mass at the House of the Virgin Mary: you will receive a net group quote within 24 hours. The biblical programmes are in our biblical tour packages to Turkey and all the others in our Turkey tour packages.

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