An exploration of Turkey’s fascinating lesser-known sites

Eastern Turkey

See areas of Turkey few visit due to the tricky-to-travel Pontic mountains. Our journey starts on the Black Sea coast and ends in cosmopolitan Istanbul.

Overview

A colorful and memorable adventure

This is a journey of tucked-away treasures, both natural and manmade. Our first stop is in Trabzon, where we visit multiple ancient (and more modern) religious sites including the famous Sumela Monastery, which clings to a sheer cliff face. In Erzurum, we focus on the Twin Minaret Medrese, Yakutiye Madrasa and the Three Kumbets, which are the finest examples of Eastern Turkey’s Selcuk art and architecture on the Silk Road.

Other highlights throughout our trip include the fabled Biblical Mount Ararat; the surreal landscapes and caves of Cappadocia; and multiple citadels, churches, museums, and ancient routes dating back over 2,000 years. We also enjoy the warm hospitality of the locals of these regions. An optional post-trip extension in Istanbul delves deeper into the monuments and sites of this dynamic city.

Dates

June 7–19, 2026

Duration

13 days

Price

From approx. $6,995 per perrson

Trip size

36 participants

Minimum age

18 years

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Faculty leader

A different kind of classroom

With renowned Stanford faculty and scholars leading the way, every Travel/Study trip is a one-of-a-kind educational experience.

Michael Penn

Religious Studies   

The Teresa Hihn Moore Professor of Religious Studies, Professor Penn is a historian of pre-modern Judaism, Christianity, and Islam whose work explores the interactions between these traditions.

Learn more about Michael

Uncover living history

On this program, Professor Penn invites you to consider how the past influences the present, especially in the context of world religions. He is inspired by the various strata of civilizations that one can find—often built up upon each other—throughout Turkey. “I’m excited to be in a region that will immerse us in over two thousand years’ worth of intercultural encounters and, as a historian of Eastern Christianity, I’m particularly pleased to be on a trip that helps turn our gaze eastward.”

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