Mary shrine. This is pit stop for our trip. This a last home place of Mary. It is a holy place that…read morefor worship due to last Mary Home. The place is very small. Our tour guide warn us about it. Sometimes take two hours to visit this small house. We were visited during the lunch time which is the less tour group here. It takes us 30 minutes.

We have seen reviews that are up and down, but we were really affected by our visit. This is…read morebelieved to be / could be the final house of the Virgin Mary. The house was destroyed except for the bottom two rows of bricks. It has been reconstructed and is now a shrine. There are 4 springs with "holy water" and a prayer wall. We found it very impactful to possibly be walking where the Virgin Mary and St John the Apostle walked.

For a country which is mostly Muslim it's always amazing to see churches in Turkey which have…read moresurvived from a time when Turkey was predominantly Christian. The Ayios Haralambos Church was built in 1832 as a Greek Orthodox Church in Cesme before the Greeks fled Izmir. It was restored by the city in 2012 and opened as a cultural center. For the past few years I've visited in the summer there is always a pop up art gallery where local artists come to display their art. I've bought art from these galleries the past two years I have visited. If you're in the area I would definitely recommend visiting, it's on the main shopping strip in Cesme and it's free to enter! Not only will there likely be an art exhibition, but the mosaics that are on the ceiling are absolutely stunning.