Pauline way
The Paulusweg ( English Saint Paul Trail ) follows the traces of the Apostle Paul on his way from the Mediterranean to the ancient city of Antioch as a long-distance hiking trail and cultural route . The demanding trekking route traces the path of Paul's first missionary journey through Pisidia and leads to a number of historical sites. With a total distance of around 500 kilometers, the Paulusweg is the second oldest long-distance hiking trail in the country after the Lycian Way and is one of the longest cultural routes in the country. The path starts from the coast in two arms and reaches the highest point at around 2200 m (two peaks around 2800 m can optionally be climbed). The Paulusweg was opened by Kate Clow and Terry Richardson in 2004.
Route
The Paulusweg began until recently near the coast near Antalya at the ancient sites of Perge and Aspendos . The eastern arm, which ran from Aspendos parallel to the Köprü Çayi valley to the north, was largely destroyed or robbed of its originality in a forest fire in 2009. The eastern route now starts in ancient Selge near the Beşkonak settlement. As before, the western route runs from Perge through the hill country off the coast to the Kurşunlu and Uçansu waterfalls. Past the old Pednelissos , from where a cross connection to the east route to Selge has branched off since 2013, the path leads through wooded heights to Çandır and Sütçüler. The two arms meet at the ruins of Adada . There is currently a variant of the route behind Sipahiler far east of Lake Kovada , only to descend into the valley at the end of the lake. The trail continues through Kasnak Forest Park and then slopes down to Lake Eğirdir . In the mountains, the path follows the west bank of the lake to its narrowest point, where hikers cross over by fishing boat. From the east bank, the Paulusweg leads on to the northeast to ancient Antioch near the city of Yalvaç .
The cultural routes of Turkey
The Paulusweg is the second oldest cultural route in Turkey after the Lycian Way. As the first marked long-distance hiking trail, the Lycian Way has developed into one of the most popular cultural and hiking routes in Europe since it was founded in 1999. A similar development of the Paulusweg (albeit with a shorter hiking season due to the altitude) is foreseeable. Since the beginning of the noughties, a large number of other trails have emerged in Turkey that can be explored on foot, by bike or on horseback. The paths known as cultural routes follow old trade routes or are based on the footsteps of famous travelers. So is z. For example, the Sultans Trail in the Thracian part of Turkey is the first section of a 2100 km route from Istanbul to Vienna, which traces a 141-day military expedition by Sultan Suleyman in 1529. The Evliya Çelebi Way in the north-west of the country follows in the footsteps of the Ottoman writer Evliya Çelebi from the 17th century. The routes were developed with the aim of making the cultural heritage of Turkey accessible to trekkers and other trail users “in passing”. The Association of Cultural Routes in Turkey, founded in 2012, is a non-profit organization in which the founders of the routes have joined forces with local tour operators, pension operators and other partners. The aim of the association is to develop the paths in terms of sustainable tourism and to preserve the routes for future generations.
literature
- Kate Clow, Terry Richardson: St Paul Trail: Turkey's Second Long Distance Walking Route . 1st edition. Cordee Ltd., 2000, ISBN 978-0-9539218-1-2 .
Web links
- The Paulusweg in the Association of Cultural Routes in Turkey (English)
- Steffen Ramer: Pointing the way or a wrong way? Experience report, published in the network Weitwandern e. V., December 2007.
- Terry Richardson: Hiking in an apostle's footsteps: the St. Paul Trail. In: Today's Zaman . March 17, 2010 (English).
- Peter Lill: Lots of information about the Paulusweg and a description of all stages
Individual evidence
- ↑ The website of the Sultan Trail to the idea of the route (English)
- ↑ On the history and origin of the Evliya-Çelebi-Weg (English)
- ↑ The Association of Cultural Routes in Turkey on its goals ( Memento of the original from February 21, 2013 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. (English)
