The road to Thessalonica and beyond
Casamara
John & Susan Simpson
Wed 9 Jul 2025 14:14
| At the end of the last blog post we left St Paul and his companions at Lydia’s house at Philippi. From there they journeyed on, passing through Amphipolis and Apollonia as they headed for Thessalonica (now Thessaloniki). We followed the same route, albeit much faster! Amphipolis was stunning. Perched on top of a hill 40 miles west of Kavala, with far reaching views over the Strymonian Gulf and inland towards the mountains of Bulgaria, the fortress walls must have been an impressive sight when approached from the Via Egnatia below. The archaeological site is massive and we could have easily spent more time there, but we enjoyed the excellent Archaeology Museum and went to see the remains of the early Christian basilicas dating from the 5th and 6th centuries AD. The Bible doesn’t say whether Paul stayed here or not, but we imagined that he must have done. It was such an important settlement along their route it would seem an ideal place to rest. Commentary in the Museum suggested that Amphipolis retained its Greek culture despite Roman occupation so perhaps, even if they did stay overnight, they preferred to press on and nothing worth noting for the record happened here. Amphipolis looking towards the sea The 5th century basilicas had beautiful mosaics, some still in situ Apollonia, a tiny agricultural village 25 miles further west, gave us one of those lovely encounters with local people that make these journeys so special. Although the biblical record has Apollonia as another place where Paul just passed by, we could see on Google maps that there was a historical monument and we went to check it out. We bounced our way along dirt tracks past (seemingly) every tractor in Greece parked up in the shade, to reach a large rock and a historical information board. Whilst we were reading the board, a delightful lady called Maria approached and introduced herself as the local guide. She was very proud to show us the rock from which Paul preached as he was passing through, as well as a centuries old Plane tree and the remains of an Ottoman bath house. We assumed she must live in the village, but when we asked she said no, she came by bus every day from Thessaloniki (40 miles to the West) just to show people around this place. She was aware that the Bible doesn’t actually say Paul preached here but she was absolutely certain that he had, as local legend had passed down the story. With Maria, the Stand of Apostle Paul, and the Plane tree We arrived in Thessaloniki and found driving the roads around the old town to find our AirBnB apartment somewhat akin to the car chase scene from ’The Italian Job’. The roads were SO narrow and slippery on the cobblestones. Paul was intent on coming here because there was a Jewish synagogue and on three Sabbath days he went there to give them the news of Jesus. We were sad to learn that Thessalonica’s Jewish community, once the largest in Greece, suffered terribly under Nazi occupation. Only one pre-WW2 synagogue survives, and that only because it was being used as a Red Cross store at the time. We traced the landmarks we could find, though, and visited the Vlatadon Monastery, said to have been erected on a site where Paul preached; the Church of Saint Paul the Apostle, just above a spring where he was supposed to have stopped to drink. We were amused to see there’s a very nice cafe there now! The imposing Church of Saint Paul the Apostle (built long after he was there) According to Acts, "some of the Jews (in Thessalonica) were persuaded and joined Paul and Silas, as did a large number of God-fearing Greeks and quite a few prominent women”. However, other Jews were unhappy and started a riot. Paul was again forced to flee and left during cover of darkness. Local legend has it that he left through a small door in the city walls close to where the Vlatadon Monastery is now. There were a number of gates in that location so we tried a few for size. Paul most likely escaped through a small door in the city walls. We thought this one was the most likely location! From Thessalonica Paul travelled to Berea (Veria), 45 miles further West, and here he again preached at the Jewish Synagogue. Today there’s a monument called St Paul’s Tribune which marks the spot where he’s supposed to have preached. It’s obviously on the religious bus tour route because a succession of coach loads of people came through in the short time we spent there. St Paul’s Tribune, Veria, complete with teenage tour group on their phones! We loved the description in Acts that “the Berea Jews were of more noble character than those in Thessalonica”. You get the impression that Paul and his companions felt a bit bruised by the reception they’d received in Thessalonica and were relieved that they were welcomed in Berea. Fortunately for us, our stay in Thessalonica was not like that and was made all the better for meeting up with one of John’s former Rockschool (www.rslawards.com) colleagues. Nik Liamis was the perfect host, taking us on a tour of his hometown, as well as treating us to a lovely meal in the picturesque Platia Katouni. Nik and John outside the Toumba Stadium, home of his favourite football team PAOK Sadly, some of the pesky Thessalonians followed Paul to Berea and started stirring up trouble there too, so his followers arranged for him to leave for Athens. John and I will go there later in our tour of Greece but for now will take a break from St Paul related places, in order to visit Meteora and Delphi. |