Geyre, Turkey
One word frees us of all the weight and pain of life: that word is love.
—Sophocles (496–406 B.C.), Greek playwright and priest
In the Aegean region of Turkey, about an hour and a half from the thermal springs of Pamukkale, sit the sprawling ruins of the ancient city of Aphrodisias, with a temple honoring Aphrodite, goddess of love, at its center. A marble statue of the goddess, recovered from the site, is now displayed in an outstanding museum there. Aphrodite appears in a long garment whose folds contain carved reliefs of the Three Graces with Aphrodite, three cupids with Aphrodite, and the sun god and moon goddess.
If meditating at a temple dating back centuries before Christ and honoring the goddess of love might help you to reconnect with Divine love, visit Aphrodite’s Temple. Take a guided tour (the easiest route), or travel by bus or car from Denizli toward Nazilli on to Karacasu and Geyre. See the following website for more information: www.turkeytravelplanner.com/go/Aegean/aphrodisias/trans.html.
Rub rose oil (the rose was believed sacred to Aphrodite) into the palm of your right hand, place your hand over your heart, and meditate on God’s everlasting love or on your romantic love.
Considered a sacred site for six thousand years, Aphrodisias was founded in the third century B.C. and abandoned in the thirteenth century. The Temple of Aphrodite was converted into a Catholic basilica during the Byzantine era and destroyed in the twelfth century.