In the Footsteps of St. Paul Pilgrimage: Sites of St. Paul

My "organized" pilgrimage for 2025 was to Greece to follow in the footsteps of St. Paul. This pilgrimage was different than the last one. I may feel that way because it was a much smaller group (only about 35 people), and we intermingled with people who were just on the boat to have a good time. This pilgrimage through Select International was organized by a different person than the Danube one, and this was the first time that the local organizer (not with the company) used the company. At the risk of sounding negative right off the bat, I have to say that I was a little disappointed that the local organizer was "thrown to the wolves". On the last pilgrimage, we had several people from the home office with us, but this time we had none. There were also a couple of other things that happened, but it is a pilgrimage, and it's okay when things aren't perfect. That just adds to the spiritual experience.

I've never thought about embarking on a pilgrimage to Greece; I've never even thought of visiting the country. A woman I met on the Danube pilgrimage (also a widow) and I struck up a friendship and decided to go on "In the Footsteps of St. Paul". Except for having Mass every day, there were days when I felt more like a tourist than a pilgrim. So, I will hit the religious sites we visited in more detail with some splattering of the "touristy" spots we hit. 

We had an incredible Greek guide with us for the land portion of the pilgrimage. Giota carried her Bible (although it was a Protestant one, and Fr. Paul would pull out a Catholic one on his phone and note the differences in translation to her), and would read scripture that applied to where we were standing. And then, she would tell us the historical and archeological evidence. (Her degrees in History and Archaeology were definitely put to good use!) I've spoken with a couple of other people I know who have gone on pilgrimages by the same name but with different companies, and they did not have this same experience. 

The Site of Lydia's Baptism

What a way to start off the pilgrimage! After Mass right next to the river, we went into the Baptistry. Giota explained the Byzantine Rite of Baptism while we stood in that beautiful building.

Baptistry

Giota read the passage from the Bible about Lydia being baptized next to the Shrine of Lydia

The Shrine

Zigaktis River

Back of the Baptistry

Ceiling 

While standing around the Baptistry, Giota told us the story of her own Baptism in the Greek Orthodox Tradition

Ceiling depicting St. Paul's life

Ceiling depicting women being baptized

The dome

Philippi

The Book of St. Paul's Letters to the Philippians is one of my favorite books of the Bible, so I was glad we went there at the beginning of the pilgrimage. Since we attended Mass at Lydia, we did not have Mass here. 

Basilica B was 1 of 3 basilicas. This one was never finished and did not function as a temple.

Basilica A ruins

The cross on the top of the pedestal signifies a Christian Building

The "traditional" site of St. Paul's Prison. However, we were told that it was a cistern and the actual spot would have been on the other side of the ruins.

The building on the right would have been where St. Paul was sentenced.

The Octagon was once the site of a Christian Church that was built over an ancient sanctuary

The writings discovered indicate that the church was dedicated to St. Paul

The Theater

The Via Egnatia: a Roman road that extended from Rome to Constantinople. St. Paul would have walked on this road.

Wine jugs

Beopia (Veria)

Scriptural reference to Veria

Steps where St. Paul preached

This is where Mass was celebrated

St. Paul Mosaic

St. Paul looking over to the place where he preached

Thessaloniki

The residents of this city was who St. Paul addressed in the "Letters to the Thessalonians". We didn't have time to actually go down in the Agora (if you even are allowed down there), where St. Paul preached, but we had Mass in a beautiful Catholic Church and were able to venerate relics of St. Demetrius, who was martyred under the Byzantine Church, which was built over the Roman baths.

Stations of the Cross in Immaculate Conception Catholic Church

The Main Altar: Immaculate Conception Catholic Church

Immaculate Conception Side Altar

Entrance to Immaculate Conception Catholic Church

Hagos Demetrius was first built around 413 AD over the site of St. Demetrius' martyr. He was imprisoned in the Roman baths (under the present church); it was converted into a crypt, which is still used for worship. Unfortunately, we weren't advised to make sure we went into the crypt, so I missed it.

The Jerusalem Icon of the Mother of God

Baptismal font from olden days; baptisms used to take place outside

Relics of St. Demetrius

Marble Iconostasis

Just a short downhill walk through a small park, we saw the ruins of the Agora, where Paul preached to the Thessalonians.

The baths would have been to the left of the amphitheater and extended all the way to under the Hagos Demetrius.

Ephesus

All I can say is: WOW. After 200 years, there is still excavation taking place, with only approximately 30% being uncovered. I could imagine Paul, Priscilla, and Aquila walking through the streets, especially at the site of the retail shops with the houses over them.

Retail shops with houses over them.

The top of the column shows what was showing when excavation began. At one point, there was an earthquake and mudslide that covered the city.

The Library of Celsus. To the right are the stairs to the Hall of Tyrannus, where Paul had discussions in the lecture hall.

Main entry to the marketplace

Theater Gymnasium. A riot ensued here against St. Paul in 56 AD (Acts 19). The road with the columns (Harbour Street or Arcadiane) was half a mile long and stretched from the harbor to the theater.

Sarcophagi Garden: ancient cemetery. The arches in the background are the ruins of the Basilica of St. John

Rota were etched into the marble floor tiles. Many historians believe these were discreet Christian symbols to indicate which shopkeepers were Christian.

Rhodes

For some reason, our guide (we had a local guide, not Giota) didn't tell us the significance of Rhodes as it pertained to our pilgrimage of St. Paul. He did indeed visit the Isle of Rhodes; it is recorded in Acts 21:1. Lindos was our first stop.

The ancient town of Lindos was very nice.

At the top of the Acropolis (The temple of Athena Lindia), with views of St. Paul's Bay. Tradition says St. Paul landed here.

We visited Rhodes Old Town, built by the Knights of St. John in the early 16th century. 

Gate of St. Anthony of Padua

Street in the Medieval City of Rhodes

Richard the Lionhearted Coat of Arms above door

Villa where the knights would have stayed

Entrance to Mandraki Harbour is marked by 2 bronze deer statues sitting on top of the columns. It is believed that this is also the site of the Colossus. 

Mandraki Harbor is also the historical site of St. Paul's landing on Rhodes.

Mass was celebrated at Santa Maria Catholic Church, which is run by Franciscans. It is a small church, but beautiful just the same.

Stations of the Cross on the outside of the building

The main altar

The back of the church. You can see the Stations of the Cross on the lower right hand side of the picture

The Baptismal Font

This is one of the most beautiful statues I've seen.

Close-up of the statue. Mary has tears on her face.

Heraklion, Crete

Yet another place where we weren't informed of the connection to St. Paul (another local guide): Heraklion is closely linked with St. Titus, who was St. Paul's companion. Even though we were free to wander, my roommate & I spent some time in the Cathedral Holy Temple of Saint Titus by accident. I was surprised when our group got back together by how few of us actually went into this cathedral.

The Cathedral Holy Temple of Saint Titus sits a little off of the main road, but it's not easily missed

The Iconostasis that separates the sanctuary (the altar) from the nave (where the congregation is) 

The ambon (pulpit) with the 4 Evangelists depicted

The stunning wood chandelier with icons of the 4 Evangelists around it

There were a lot of icons in each of the Orthodox Churches we visited. This one is of the Dormition of Mary

The Nativity of Mary

Proskyneterion with icons

Side altar with the skull of St. Titus on the right

The Monastery of St. Peter and St. Paul is also in Heraklion; however, we weren't advised of it so we missed it. Since it's right along the city's old Venetian wall, we probably walked right by it. It's a shame because it is one of the two places that are the most important to Catholics in the city.

Corinth

We were back with Giota for our last 2 places. She was a welcome sight! We were able to celebrate Mass here in the ruins. At the end of Mass, Fr. Paul said, "How cool is this?" Very cool, indeed. 

Fr. Paul celebrating Mass in Corinth

Flogging stone in front of the Bema. The Bema is where Gallio (the preconsul) heard the people's complaints against St. Paul and refused to make judgment.

Ancient Roman Road that connected the city's Agora to its port city of Lechaion on the Corinthian Gulf. St. Paul would have walked on this road.

Menorah with inscription: Synagogue in Hebrew

West shops. Paul may have worked with Aquila and Priscilla, making tents in this area.

Acrocorinth. Paul spoke of this in 1Corinthians 6:9-20 when preaching against sexual immorality.

Athens

The Agora and Acropolis at night

Areopagus or Mars Hill. St. Paul's speech (Acts 17:16-34) happened here. 

Propylaea. Built between 437 and 432 BC, this was the ceremonial gateway to the Acropolis of Athens.

Pnyx Hill. 6000 citizens were required to be in attendance before the discussions could begin. Political, social, and war issues were discussed every 9 days by the Ecclesia

View of Mars Hill from the Acropolis

Erechtheion: ancient temple in the Acropolis. The porch is supported by 6 draped statues known as the Caryatids. It houses sacred relics and ancient wooden cult statues.

Temple of Athena, also known as the Parthenon; it took 9 years to build and another 5 or 6 more to decorate.

In addition to these sites, we saw a couple of religious sites that didn't have to do with St. Paul, but were incredible all the same. But since this post is longer than I anticipated, you'll have to read a different post.