Terry Richardson treks the St Paul Trail, Turkey's latest long distance footpath.

Practical information:
The Saint Paul Trail
The Lycian Way

My first day on the trail. Despite the altitude and beating July sun, the work was going well. In fact I was feeling pretty pleased with myself. We, a young Israeli volunteer called Arnon and myself, had made good progress cutting branches and wire brushing lichen from rocks along the path. Then it was time to slap on the flashes of red and white paint, so other walkers could follow us over the Toros mountains in the footsteps of St Paul.

The trail we were working on owes its existence to Kate Clow, a long-term resident of the Mediterranean city of Antalya, close to one of the starting points of the route. Having pioneered Turkey’s first long distance footpath, the Lycian Way Kate hit upon the idea of a new path inspired by the journeys of the Apostle Paul, who wandered Asia Minor and the Middle-east in the 1st Century AD, spreading the message of a new religion, Christianity.

The modern-day path has two branches, a westerly route leading 450 kms from the Roman city of Perge, now a well preserved archaeological site outside Antalya, through the dramatic Toros mountains to Antioch in Pisidia. High on the Anatolian plateau, Antioch holds a unique place in the history of Christianity, as the first place St Paul preached to non-Jews. Unfortunately, the remains of St Paul’s church are scant, though other Roman buildings like the aqueduct, bath house and temple of Augustus are in much better shape. Sitting on the windswept steppe, with the towering Sultan Mountains as a backdrop, the site makes a fitting end to an impressive trail.

The other branch of the long-distance path begins east of Antalya at Aspendos, where a perfectly preserved Roman theatre still hosts concerts. From there it heads north west through the spectacular Köprülü Canyon (where thrill seekers white water raft down the churning river) before joining the main trail at Adada, an isolated Roman site.

Along its two routes, the St Paul trail forges its way through a dramatic landscape of deep canyons, waterfalls, cedar forests and limestone peaks soaring to almost 3,000m. Weaving through the mountains, it links surviving sections of the Roman road St Paul once trod, to Selcuk and Ottoman trade routes and droving paths. Also using sections of village footpath and forestry track, the path threads through a region famous for its flora and fauna. Rare orchids attract botanists and the anemones, grape hyacinth and crocus are breathtaking in Spring. Vultures and eagles soar high over the peaks. Foxes and wild boar are another common sight, and during the waymarking we often came across tortoises lumbering through the woods.