Paul's Travels in Western Anatolia

During his second and third missionary journeys (Acts 15-21), the apostle Paul traveled extensively throughout western Anatolia, most of which formed the Roman province of Asia. During Paul's third journey, he spent two years ministering in Ephesus, one of the most prestigious cities of the Roman Empire, but eventually the local silversmiths incited a riot, forcing Paul to leave for Macedonia (Acts 19). Eventually the apostle John relocated his ministry to western Anatolia as well, and the seven churches he addressed in the book of Revelation (Ephesus, Smyrna, Pergamum, Thyatira, Sardis, Philadelphia, and Laodicea) were located there (Revelation 1:11).