Seven Churches in Anatolia

 The seven municipalities were religious communities in western Asia (the current Asia Minor).

They were Ephesus, Smyrna, Pergamon, Tyatira, Sardis, Philadelphia and Laodikea. They are listed in the order in which a courier, coming from Patmos, the fastest they can visit.

The Apostle John saw while on the island of Patmos, a vision that he, on behalf of Jesus, writing and sent to the seven municipalities. This is the Revelation of John.

In the vision the writer saw Jesus stand between seven golden candlesticks and seven stars in his hand. The candlesticks, the municipalities for the stars and the predecessors of the municipalities.

The book begins, after the introduction, with a letter to the predecessors of each of the municipalities. This shows that Jesus could say little of Sardis and Laodicea, while he only had praise for Smyrna and especially Filadelfia.

Jewish in Anatolia

Jewish

Jews have lived more than 2,400 years in the geographical area of Asia Minor (modern Turkey). In the later Middle Ages Asjkenazische Jews migrated to the Byzantine Empire and the Ottoman Empire and joined in the original Jewish population of Asia Minor. At the end of the 15th century to a large number of Sephardic Jews to escape persecution in Spain and Portugal and settled in Asia Minor on the invitation of the Ottoman Empire. Despite the emigration in the 20th century is located in modern Turkey is still a small Jewish population. The letter of Paul to the Galatians is also focused on an area of modern Turkey. Based on physical evidence, there was a Jewish community in Asia Minor since the 4th century BC, especially in the city of Sardis.

The sultan had declared that the Spanish monarch lack of wisdom: "Your call Ferdinand, wise king, your country poor and enriched ours!"
The Jews fulfilled different needs in the Ottoman Empire: the Muslim Turks were largely uninterested in business and commercial occupations were therefore left to the members of minority religions.