The seven Churches of Asia once existed in what is now Turkey. They were early Christian communities in the Roman province of Asia, in western Anatolia, and are named in the Book of Revelation.
Revelation addresses messages to churches at Ephesus, Smyrna, Pergamon, Thyatira, Sardis, Philadelphia and Laodicea. Their locations formed a route through the western part of modern Turkey, although the ancient Roman term “Asia” referred to a province rather than the entire continent of Asia.
The sites are important both to Christian history and to archaeology. Ephesus, for example, was a major ancient city, while Pergamon and Laodicea were influential urban centers. Some of the ancient settlements are now archaeological ruins, and several modern Turkish towns lie near or over the historical locations.
A common mistake is answering “Greece” because the churches belonged to the wider Greek-speaking eastern Mediterranean world. Their language and culture were heavily Greek-influenced, but geographically the seven churches were located in Asia Minor, within present-day Turkey.