And so it was that the apostle John, while exiled by the Romans (see Ancient Empires - Rome) to the island of Patmos, was given to write Revelation - a book of The Bible that, more than any other, speaks of events coming in our time now (see Prophecy). Your Bible states very clearly that there are many wondrous and spectacular events coming upon the world.
The seven churches (Revelation chapters 2 and 3), located in Ephesus, Smyrna, Pergamum, Thyatira, Sardis, Philadelphia, and Laodicea, were listed in their geographical order along an ancient triangular highway route in what is today eastern Turkey, touching on The Aegean Sea. The island of Patmos was just off the coast.
Beginning at Ephesus, it was about 100 miles (160 kilometers) north through Smyrna, up to Pergamum, and then about another 100 miles back southeast through Thyatira, Sardis, Philadelphia, to Laodicea, which was about 100 miles east of Ephesus.
The seven churches had both immediate and prophetic applications. That is to say, they were used in the prophecy of the future events, while they were actual churches of that time, as shown on the map above. The seven churches were dual in their significance.
Fact Finder: What is the origin of the Book of Revelation?
(a) from John to us
(b) from Jesus Christ to John to us
(c) from God to Jesus Christ to John to us
Revelation 1:1