The seven churches, in order, and where they are today
The order below is the order of Revelation 1:11 — which is also the route a first-century courier would have walked, north up the coast and back through the inland valleys.
| # | Church | Where it is today | What survives | Coordinates |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | EphesusRevelation 2:1–7 | Selçuk (2 km)İzmir province | Vast excavated city: the Library of Celsus, the Great Theatre, Curetes Street, the terrace houses, and the Basilica of Saint John on the hill above. | 37.9417, 27.3417 |
| 2 | SmyrnaRevelation 2:8–11 | İzmir city centreİzmir province | The Roman agora, excavated among the modern streets, with its colonnaded basilica and vaulted lower level. The rest lies beneath a living city of four million. | 38.4189, 27.1287 |
| 3 | PergamonRevelation 2:12–17 | Bergama (adjacent)İzmir province | The acropolis 300 m above the town — the steepest theatre of the ancient world, the Temple of Trajan, the foundations of the Altar of Zeus — plus the Asclepion below. | 39.1320, 27.1840 |
| 4 | ThyatiraRevelation 2:18–29 | Akhisar (in town)Manisa province | A single fenced excavation in the middle of the modern town: basilica ruins, column bases, a fountain and inscriptions. The smallest site of the seven. | 38.9190, 27.8400 |
| 5 | SardisRevelation 3:1–6 | Sart, near SalihliManisa province | The reconstructed Marble Court of the bath-gymnasium, the largest ancient synagogue ever excavated, and two standing columns of the Temple of Artemis. | 38.4880, 28.0400 |
| 6 | PhiladelphiaRevelation 3:7–13 | Alaşehir (in town)Manisa province | Three massive brick pillars of a Byzantine basilica, still standing in the middle of the modern town after fifteen centuries of earthquakes. | 38.3490, 28.5160 |
| 7 | LaodiceaRevelation 3:14–22 | Denizli (10 km)Denizli province | One of Turkey’s largest active excavations: marble streets, two theatres, a stadium, churches — and the old water pipes still crusted white with mineral. | 37.8360, 29.1080 |
| ✦ | PatmosRevelation 1:9 | Skala harbourDodecanese, Greece | The Cave of the Apocalypse and the fortress Monastery of Saint John above Chorá — the island where the letters were written. | 37.3089, 26.5503 |
Distances between the seven churches
Driven in the order of the letters, the whole circuit is roughly 470 kilometres — about seven hours of road time, comfortably spread across four days.
Do the seven churches still exist?
The cities survive; the congregations do not. Every one of the seven sites can be visited today, but only Smyrna continues as a living city — modern İzmir, Turkey's third largest, built over the ancient one. Ephesus, Pergamon, Sardis and Laodicea are large excavated archaeological sites; Thyatira and Philadelphia are modest ruins standing inside busy modern towns.
Four of the sites on this map carry UNESCO World Heritage status: Ephesus, Pergamon, Hierapolis-Pamukkale beside Laodicea, and the historic centre of Patmos where the letters were written.
How to see them
The circuit works as a four-day loop starting and ending near İzmir or the Ephesus coast. Our free self-guided itinerary breaks it into printable days; the route article describes what is worth your time at each stop; and if you would rather be driven and guided, our four-day Seven Churches tour follows exactly this map.
Seven Churches Locations: Questions & Answers
Where are the seven churches of Revelation located today?
All seven are in western Turkey, in the provinces of İzmir, Manisa and Denizli. In the order of Revelation 1:11 they are Ephesus (Selçuk, İzmir), Smyrna (İzmir city), Pergamon (Bergama, İzmir), Thyatira (Akhisar, Manisa), Sardis (Sart near Salihli, Manisa), Philadelphia (Alaşehir, Manisa) and Laodicea (near Denizli).
Do the seven churches of Revelation still exist today?
The cities survive as archaeological sites, and all seven can be visited. The congregations themselves are long gone: Smyrna alone continues as a living city (modern İzmir), while the others stand as excavated ruins — some vast, like Ephesus and Laodicea, some modest, like Thyatira’s single fenced excavation in the middle of Akhisar.
Can you visit all seven churches of Revelation?
Yes. Every one of the seven sites is open to visitors, and the whole circuit fits inside a loop of roughly 200 kilometres in western Turkey. A relaxed self-drive or guided tour of all seven takes about four days; the two coastal sites, Ephesus and Smyrna, can be seen in a single day.
What is the order of the seven churches of Revelation?
Ephesus, Smyrna, Pergamon, Thyatira, Sardis, Philadelphia, Laodicea. The order is not symbolic — it follows the clockwise circuit of a first-century Roman postal road, running north up the coast from Ephesus and back down through the inland river valleys.
How far apart are the seven churches?
The longest single leg is Smyrna to Pergamon at about 105 kilometres; the shortest is Sardis to Philadelphia at about 45. Driven in order, the full circuit is roughly 470 kilometres — around seven hours of road time, comfortably spread over four days.
Which of the seven churches are UNESCO World Heritage Sites?
Ephesus and Pergamon are inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage list, as is Hierapolis-Pamukkale across the valley from Laodicea, and the historic centre of Patmos where the letters were written.