Türkiye Spring 2027
Ancient Queens of Anatolia Tour
Join Priestess Yeshe from April 26-May 9 in Türkiye, visiting the sites of Kybele and Aphrodite, unlocking the mysteries of beauty, love, devotion, and protection.
Three spaces available.
April 26
When your flight arrives in Ankara, you'll be picked up at the airport and brought to our hotel. You can settle in, have a snack, and rest before dinner. Over our evening meal, we will debrief about the journey ahead.
April 27
After breakfast, we will spend the day at the Museum of Anatolian Civilizations. This museum focuses solely on the history of the pre-Greco-Roman peoples of ancient Türkiye. It houses the iconic statue of the seated woman of Çatal Höyük, statues of Cybele, Hittite civilization relics, and so much more.
April 28
We will rise early, hop in our car, and drive to the ancient site of Pessinus to visit the Temple of Mountain Mother Kybele. The labyrinthine Temple site was built to honor the Goddess of weather, fertility, war, and statecraft, and it formerly housed a sacred meteorite that was worshipped as the Goddess Herself. After our visit, we will journey onward to Kutahya, to stay in a beautiful Ottoman-era Museum with attached guesthouse.
April 29
We will visit the Temple of Zeus and Kybele at Aizinoi, where the underground chamber served as an oracular sanctuary, as the almost-brutalist rectangular structure of the Temple towered above it. Zeus and Kybele were worshipped here as co-regents, not as consorts, providing a unique space for the blending of local and imported Graeco-Anatolian traditions. After our visit at this site, we will make our way to the ancient city of Hieropolis.
April 30
We will begin our day early and visit the city of Hierapolis, with its stunning white cliffs, ancient Roman necropolis, Plutonion oracular cave, robust museum, phenomenally preserved Roman theatre, and the essence of Kybele in yet another of her holy landscapes.
After our visit to this large site, there will be time for some last-minute shopping in town before we head into the countryside to the city of Aphrodisias.
May 1-2
May 1, we will awaken early to watch the sun rise over the local mountain, wash our faces in rosewater and dew, and prepare to visit Aphrodisias for an historical tour of the massive grounds, including Aphrodite’s Temple and Hadrian’s Baths. In the evening, we will enjoy a festive night of wine, tea, and fire to honor the coming of May.
On May 2, we will visit Aphrodisias one more time to perform ceremonies, make personal vows, and practice divination. This evening we can relax in the garden at our hotel and prepare for the next day’s departure.
May 3
On May 3, we will drive from Aphrodisias to Didim to see the oracular Temple of Apollo. This was one of the most famous sites of Apollo apart from Delphi. The beautifully preserved tholos towers over the site, where ancient Medusa figures, stout columns, and a sacred road beckoned pilgrims for ceremony and divination. That evening we will have dinner in a restaurant near the site and watch the sun set over the Temple’s elegant famework.
May 4
After breakfast, we will make the short drive to the seaside city of Bodrum, where we can visit local shops, do laundry, and stock up on supplies for our journey to the Datça Peninsula, where the Temple of Aphrodite at Knidos awaits us.
May 5-8
Our final retreat in Datça will take us on a ferry ride across the sea to reach the beauty, beaches, and sacred sites of the ancient city of Knidos. There, we will encounter the gorgeous serpent-wrapped columns, Dionysian theatre, and mountaintop circular Temple of Aphrodite. This Temple was dedicated to the arts of love and pleasure, where an exquisite statue of the Goddess, carved from Parian marble by the famous sculptor Praxiteles, overlooks the ocean waves crashing below. Here we will do a ceremony to heal and open our hearts, honor our bodies and their service to our souls, and call the Goddess from across the waters to bless us.
We will also have a day dedicated to art, self-care, and pampering as we integrate our trip and all we have experienced.
May 8-9
On May 8 we will return via ferry from Datça to Bodrum, spending the night in a hotel near the airport to prepare for our May 9 departure.
On May 9, you will be taken to the Bodrum airport for your departure home, or to your next destination. Bon Voyage!
An open heart is your gift to the cosmos
Ancient Anatolia was one of the great sacred landscapes of the Mediterranean, where the powers of Kybele and Aphrodite were woven into mountains, springs, caves, and fertile valleys. At Pessinus, Kybele, the Mountain Mother, was venerated in the form of her sacred black meteorite, while at Aizanoi she presided over an Oracle. The geographer Strabo observed of Pessinus, "The temple of the Mother of the Gods is held in exceptional honor" (Geography 12.5.3) At Hierapolis, Kybele’s worship flourished beside the steaming mineral springs, while nearby Phrygian traditions preserved the enduring presence of the Great Mother. At Aphrodisias, one of antiquity's greatest centers of her worship, the city's magnificent temple and marble workshops proclaimed Aphrodite not only as the goddess of love but as the divine source of prosperity, identity, and sacred power. At Knidos Aphrodite was celebrated as patroness of beauty, civic life, and the sea, reflecting the reverence that Anatolian peoples held for the Great Goddess across the centuries.
Together, Kybele and Aphrodite are two complementary faces of the Divine Feminine rooted in Anatolia's living landscape. Kybele embodies the untamed mountains, wild animals, and primordial forces that sustain life, while Aphrodite blesses the flowering gardens, coastal sanctuaries, and fertile cities where beauty, relationship, and abundance flourish. Pilgrims who journey through Pessinus, Aizanoi, Hierapolis, Aphrodisias, and Knidos follow a sacred geography where stones, waters, and the earth were living vessels of divine presence. Join us, and encounter a tradition in which the Goddess revealed herself through the very contours of the natural world, inviting humanity into reverence, reciprocity, and wonder.
Lodgings
Prices for this trip are based on a combination of single and shared occupancy with 3 spaces available.
Meals
Your trip fee includes breakfast daily.
Lunch and dinner will typically occur while we are out sightseeing, and we typically take turns paying for meals so that everyone shares the costs and has the opportunity to relax.
If you have special needs related to food, such as gluten intolerance or allergies, please let us know so that we can support you in preparing for a happy, healthy journey.
Price Details
The price for this trip is $3600 per person.
If you'd like to book, please see below.
Inclusions
pick-up at Ankara International Airport
breakfast each day
lodging in your own room or a shared room at one or two sites
ground transportation to all destinations
entrance fees and guidance during our visits to the sacred sites
all rituals, ceremonies, and activities in and near sacred sites
goodie bag with items to bestir wisdom and facilitate Goddess integration
pre-trip planning assistance
Drop-off at Milas-Bodrum Airport
Exclusions
flights to and from Turkiye
lunch and dinner expenses (estimate $300)
spending money
Personal expenses- laundry, toiletries, offerings at sacred sites.
If you are interested in booking this journey, an application and a $500 non-refundable deposit are required.