Filippoi and Kavala - Foot Steps of Apostle Paul

Up to 50 guests

8Hours

Description

We offer an 8 hours day private tour to Filippoi and Kavala from Thessaloniki following footsteps of Apostle Paul with an (optional) English speaking guide. We suggest departing from Thessaloniki at 9:00 am and our first stop is in the city of Filippoi and the baptistery of Lydia, the first woman in Europe that was baptized as a christian. After leaving Filippoi, we are going to visit the beatiful city of Kavala. We will have the chance to see the Step where Apostle Paul preached, the impressive arches and then head to Panagia and see Imaret, Mohamed Ali square and his house. You can enjoy local cuisine in one of the restaurants in Kavala, before taking our way back to Thessaloniki.

Extra information

What to expect

FILIPPOI Filippoi was an ancient city of Eastern Macedonia, known under the name of Krenides. The history of Filippoi settlement begins as early as 360 BC, when colonists from Thasos set the foundations of the original city, Krenides. When threatened by Thracians in 356 BC, they seek for the help of Phillip II (father of Alexander the Great) who, having seen into its financial and strategic importance takes over the city, fortifies it and renames it Filippoi. After the Filippoi battle in 42 BC, the city becomes a Roman colony and grows especially important due to its location on Via Egnatia. Another significant period was in the years 49 or 50 CE, when Apostle Paul visited Filippoi and founded there the first Christian Church in Europe. This action designated the city as a metropolis of Christianity. During the Byzantine times (963-969 CE), the city’s fortification is reconstructed along with its towers and the wall of the city’s acropolis. Excavation research began in Filippoi in 1914, realized by the French Archaeological School. After the 2nd World War, both the Greek Archaeological Service and the Archaeological Society conducted systematic excavations. Archaeological research is still being conducted to the present, by the Greek Archaeological Service, the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki and the French Archaeological School. The finds from the excavations are exhibited in the Archaeological Museum of Filippoi.

KAVALA Its geographical location, its natural port and its adjacency with gold-bearing Mt Pangaion make Kavala one of the oldest coastal cities in the area, with its traces being lost in the depths of prehistory. It was to this town that the Apostle Paul came to teach the message of Christianity for the first time in Europe in 49 AD, and baptised Lydia, the first European Christian woman, on the banks of the River Zygaktis. Until 1864, the Old Town was confined to the triangular peninsula on Kavala hill, which was itself a continuation of ancient Neapolis and Byzantine Christoupolis. Within this same space, the same city appeared in different eras, and with different names. Each name was characteristic and corresponded to a historical period. Neapolis in ancient times, Christoupolis during the Byzantine period, and Kavala in the modern era. During the Ottoman period, the town was razed to the ground, to be reborn from its ashes and, from the 18th century, once again became an important commercial port, acquiring its current, modern appearance.

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