EGIRDIR, Turkey - Deep in the Western Taurus Mountains of Turkey's Mediterranean coast, along ancient Roman roads and shepherds' tracks, live the ghosts of St. Paul and his followers.

Paul, born Saul of Tarsus, a city on Turkey's eastern Mediterranean coast, returned to Asia Minor for all three of his renowned missionary journeys, intent on preaching to Rome's most influential Asian "provinces." Today, that groundbreaking moment in history converges with the archeology, history, religion, and folklore of civilizations past and present on the sage-covered slopes and pine-clad hills of southwestern Turkey. And while countless operators market tours overwhelmingly titled "In the Footsteps of St. Paul," one woman, leading a pack of volunteer trailblazers, is willing to make it happen.

Kate Clow, a British expat and avid walker, began her journey through this mountain region by "collecting" ancient footpaths and mule trails trodden as far back as Lycian times, in the centuries before the Christian era. It was no stretch for her to then connect the dots into a long-distance trail that would appeal to hikers, mountaineers, and avid walkers like herself. The Lycian Way, Turkey's first long-distance walk, was born. GarantiBank, one of Turkey's largest financial institutions, agreed to provide logistical and economic assistance.

So with a sketch pad, a compass, and a handful of barely adequate maps, Clow set out to establish, clear, and mark one continuous trail from Fethiye to Antalya, taking in the region's most interesting and often remote villages and historic sites.

The 310-mile path, completed in 1999, takes in turquoise coastline, forested peaks, and everything in between, which encompasses a mind-boggling overlay of preclassical, Greek, Roman, Byzantine, and even Persian civilizations. The integration is most striking in the trilogy of Xanthos, Letoon, and Patara, with references found in Homer's "Iliad"; at Myra, where St. Nicholas was bishop; and in and around the s unken city of Kekova, with a collective narrative of striking funerary monuments, Greek temples, Roman baths, and Byzantine churches.

But it's not just the architectural remnants that define the Lycian coastline. Lycia occupies a combined coastal and mountainous landmass on Turkey's southern coast "folded" by pressure exerted for millennia by adjacent tectonic plates. The result is a stunning display of picturesque sheltered harbors crowned by pine trees, scented with sagebrush, and lapped by crystalline waters. The area is known as the Turquoise Coast, and its charisma has spawned an entire leisure industry of cruising in a tn exchanges of 1923.
In 2002, after a three-year respite, Crow started to get itchy again for another long-distance project. She directed her attentions to the Lake District north of her home of Antalya, attracted by its natural beauty, the concentration of unexcavated Roman sites, and its geographical diversity. Initially, the fact that S! t. Paul must have walked these same Roman roads was purely incidental. But marketing proved potent, and Crow, along with her friend and associate Terry Richardson, brainstormed the St. Paul Trail as the second in a series of long-distance trails.In June, Clow, assisted by Richardson and a volunteer team of intrepid expats and hiking enthusiasts, tackled the overgrown route taken by St. Paul on his missionary journeys through Asia Minor. Over the course of three months, the group systematically cleared overgrown trails, took copious GPS readings for distances and points of interest, including freshwater sources, and painted
the red and white striped waymarks in accordance with the Fver possible. Religious tourism became big business after Constantine's acceptance of Christianity as the official state religion in the fourth century. Pilgrims regularly headed to Urfa, in southeastern Turkey, near the border with Syria, where Abraham was born. Some of these pilgrims (indeed, the area around Adada is called Karabavlu Valley, or "Black Paul" by the locals) and noted the routes they took. The first section of thetrail leads from ancient Perge, just east of Antalya, to scenic Lake Egirdir and passes several spectacular waterfalls,towering gorges, and little-discovered Roman sites.

Of all the areas in the triad of Lake District trails, this section is the most convincing where St. Paul is concerned. "We know he traveled north from Perge, but it is impossible to trace parts of the route because it is now hidden under farmland and submerged by the Aksu River flood plain," Clow says. The second section of the trail heads north our ot Egirdir (the city on the lake of the same name) to Antioch-in-Psidia (Yalvac), where St. Paul first preached to convert Jews. "Probably St. Paul followed the east side of Lake Egirdir, which is now paved over by an asphalt road," Crow says. At this point in the topography, she chooses the more scenic goat tracks of the western shoreline.

This section takes in a decommissioned subordinate line to the Berlin to Baghdad railway in Egirdir proper, and a particularly scenic and physically challenging ascent up Mount Barla. At about 5,900 feet, the air is dry and the landscape arid. and the congregation of a synagogue was given here. It was also in Antioch-in-Psidia where tradition has it that Thecla (from the popular second-century tale Acts of Paul and Thecla) was thrown to the wild beasts and saved by a lion. The church dedicated to Paul and constructed on the foundations of the synagogue is the main focus of any pilgrimage here.

The third and final section of the trail finds us back on the coast in the foothills of the Taurus Mountains in the ancient Roman city of Aspendos. Home of Turkey's best-preserved ancient theater and site of an annual opera and ballet festival, Aspendos. The site nevertheless remains, for the most part unexcavated and undiscovered. For the second time, Crow sends her trekkers over the Taurus Mountains, but this section is by far the most challenging. The route roughly follows the Koprulu River, taking in the daunting and grand Koprulu Canyon. The reward, beyond the sheer exhilaration of the trek, is an optional white-water rafting adventure, best tackled in spring. Diehards have the option of climbing Mount Dedegul, at 13,096 feet, the highest peak in the area. In some cases, the original Roman roads have been paved over, covered by development or simply declared unusable.

Where necessary and after periods of reconnaissance, the team veers the trail onto more modern roads and tracks or clears new ones, especially where doing so leads to points of particular interest such as ancient ruins, remote villages, or natural wonders. Opportunities to sit elbow-to-elbow with the locals are plenty too.

As a complement to the completed trails, Clow publishes a useful companion handbook, "The Lycian Way" ("St. Paul Trail" is in production), which provides logically spaced , standalone itineraries that can be walked in increments of as little as one hour up to several weeks. Clow acknowledges, however, that the level of difficulty of the St. Paul Trail, combined with the remote topography, makes it less conducive to day hikes than the Lycian Way. On many sections, an overnight is required, and at least a moderate level of physical preparedness.

So what's next? Ultimately, her main objective is to do what she loves and have it sustain her, which trailblazing does modestly, she says. "No doubt," says Clow, "other trails will follow."

IF YOU GO . . .
How to get there
Turkish Airlines flies direct to Istanbul from both New York and Chicago, with several daily domestic connections into both Dalaman and Antalya airports on the Mediterranean Coast. Lowest round-trip air fare from Boston to Istanbul available at press time started at $502 on Delta Airlines in association with Lufthansa, connecting through New York. Turkish Airlines offers flights to Dalaman and Antalya; lowest round -trip fare from Istanbul to Dalaman available started at $185. The lowest round-troth the Perge and Aspendos sections of the St. Paul Trail are also easily accessed from Antalya, 11 and 30 miles to the east, respectively.

What to do
General information on the trails is available at www.lycianway.com and www.stpaultrail.com.

Antalya Museum
Kenan Evren Bulvari
011-90-242-241-4528
www.kultur.gov.tr/portal/arkeoloji-en.asp?belgeno=2952
This museum is a veritable catalog of Southern Anatolian civilizations, housing an impressive collection of artifacts spanning more than three millennia. Open Tuesday to Sunday from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m.; $7.

Aspendos
28 miles east of Antalya
The most indelible attraction of Aspendos is its well-preserved and functional Roman theater. The crumbling remains of a Roman aqueduct are even worth a closeup. Open daily, $7.

Perge
28 miles east of Antalya
Ancient Pergestill preserves some of the gates of the original city walls along with another breathtaking example of a Roman theater. Open daily, $7.

Necropolis and Church of St. Nicholas of Myra Demre
Church: 011-90-242-871-6543;
Necropolis: no phone
The Lycian necropolis at Myra is the most striking remnant of this ancient civilization. A reconstruction of the mid-Byzantine era Church of St. Nicholas stands in the middle of town. Both the church and the necropolis are open daily; admission to each is $3.50.

Antioch-in-Psidia
Antioch-in-Psidia began as a Roman military base in AD 25, growing rapidly into Rome's second capital in Anatolia. Modern-day visitors will be pleasantly surprised at the condition of the site. Open daily, $2.

Xanthos
Xanthos Valley (12 miles west of Kalkan)
As the ancient capital of Lycia, a thriving Roman center , and a bishopric in the Byzantine era, Xanthos preserves some o fthe finest remnants of the region's earlier civilizations. Not to be missed. Open daily, $3.

Telmessos
Fethiye
The thriving port of Fethiye built a town around its ruins a Lycian tomb in front of City Hall and a Lycian tomb rising out of the center of a cobblestoned street. On the outskirts of town, a handful of detailed Greek temple tombs are carved into the rock. Amintas tomb, $3.
In the mountains above Fethiye Settled by the Lycians as Karmylassos, this mountain valley was reestablished in the Middle Ages by the Greeks, who called it Levissi. The slopes are dotted by over 3,500 crumbling and identical stone houses, churches, and chapels, left untouched by the remaining Turkish population after the exchanges of 1923. Access to the deserted village is from 8:30
a.m. to sunset. Admission is $3; free for those arriving via mountain trails.

Where to stay
Ece Saray
011-90-252-612-5005
www.ecesaray.net
This brand-new hotel occupies a lovely expansive waterside garden . Rooms are well appointed and comfortable.
Doubles $125 to $200 .
Les Jardins de Levissi
011-90-242-618-0188
www.lesjardinsdelevissi.com (in French)
A handful of spare yet charming studios at the base of the deserted Greek village of Kaya. The rooms accommodate a family of three or four, $50 per night (closed November to March).

Where to eat
Most of the hotels above serve top-notch full-course dinners for about $10 or $12 per person.
Cin Bal
011-90-252-618-0066
Hop up on a traditional Turkish platform, and grab a skewer at this outdoor do-it-yourself barbecue. No credit cards.
Open daily 8 a.m. to 2 a.m. Under $10 per person.
Selcuk Mahallesi, Dizdar Hasan Bey Sok.,
011-90-242-244-8010
Tables line the ramparts guarding the Gulf of Antalya. Dual menus for either a Turkish or Italian palate . $5-$12.

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