Steps of Saint Paul

A pilgrimage to the lands where the“Apostle of Nations” preached. Experience awe and spiritual awakening in a true journey to some of the most important Christian sites in Greece and Turkey.

Day 1

Athens (Lavrion)

Departure at 17:00

60 kilometres from Athens, Lavrion is a bustling port and is an ancient silver mining center. The city’s silver mines date to prehistory and a bustling port. From here you can tour the following.

Highlights

• Cape Sounion: The Cape of Columns
• The Temple of Poseidon: Keeping on the Good Side of the God of the Sea

Day 2

Thessaloniki

Arrival at 08:00 / Departure at 18:00

This is Greece’s “second largest city” also known as the “Bride of the Thermaic Gulf. “The Apostle John preached here during the winter of 49-50 – he wrote two Epistles for the ancient Thessalonians and founded the area’s first church. The ruins of this ancient church lie near the Arch of Galerius and Rotunda; nearby are the city walls, the house of Jason and the ancient forum. We’ll also visit Veroia, a small city southwest of Thessaloniki, whose patron saint is Saint Paul. Here you may “touch” the Tribune of Saint Paul, the site where it’s believed Paul preached the gospel to the inhabitants of Veroia, also home to the Church of the Resurrection of Christ the Savior (Anastasis), the Church of Christ.

Highlights

• The Kamara: The Triumphal Arch of Galerius
• St. George’s Rotunda: A Mausoleum for Galerius
• The White Tower: Thessaloniki’s Most Famous Monument

Day 3

Kavala

Arrival at 08:00 / Departure at 16:00

The biblical Neapolis, Kavala is built amphitheatrically on the slopes of Mt. Symvolo and is one of the most picturesque cities in Greece. Just outside the city, at Philippi, Saint Paul preached his first sermon in Europe. Philippi is also where the Saint baptized the first Christian in Europe, the “woman by the name of Lydia.” We will also visit the prison where Saints Paul and Silas were held.

Highlights

• The Kamares (arches): Turkish Engineering
• The Birthplace of Mehmet Ali
• The Imaret: Islamic Architecture at Its Finest
• The Eclectic Megali Leschi

Day 4

Istanbul (Turkey)

Arrival at 09:30 / Departure at 20:00

This is one of the world’s great cities, home to Byzantine and Ottoman architectural jewels.

Highlights

• The Blue Mosque: The Largest, Most Beautiful Mosque in Istanbul
• Hagia Sophia: The Cathedral That Became a Museum
• The Basilica Cistern: An Entire World beneath Istanbul
• The Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople: Founded by St. Andrew
• The Topkapi Palace Museum: Home of the Ottoman Sultans
• The Old Hippodrome: An Ancient Circus
• Chora Church: One of the World’s Largest Collections of Byzantine Frescoes
• The Grand Bazaar: A Maze of 61 Covered Streets
• The Spice Bazaar: Savoury and Sweet

Day 5

Dikili (Turkey)

Arrival at 12:00 / Departure at 20:00

This coastal town is quite picturesque both along its shoreline and in its interior parts, and is a popular summer resort.

Highlights

• The Asclepieion: One of the World’s First Hospitals
• Pergamon: One of the Seven Churches Addressed in Revelation

Kusadasi (Turkey)

Arrival at 08:00 / Departure at 23:30

The area has been a center of art and culture since some of the earliest recorded history, and has been settled by many civilizations since being founded in 3000 BC. Kusadasi is currently one of the finest is resort town on the Aegean coast.

Highlights

• Ancient Ephesus: Founded by the Ancient Greeks
• Ancient Ephesus: One of the Most Complete Classical Cities in Europe
• The Terrace Houses: Homes of the Wealthy Families of Ancient Ephesus
• The Great Theatre of Ephesus
• The House of the Virgin Mary: Where the Virgin Spent Her Final Years
• St. John the Evangelist’s Basilica: An Important Middle Age Pilgrimage

Day 7

Patmos

Arrival at 06:30 / Departure at 11:30

Many believe John the Apostle wrote the Book of Revelations in a mountainside grotto where he heard the voice of God. Further up the mountain, within the white walls of Hora, the monastery founded in his honour in 1088 stands sentinel above this verdant island.

Highlights

• The Grotto of the Apocalypse: Where St. John Heard the Voice of God
• The Sculpted Mountaintop Village of Chora
• The Monastery of St. John: Dates from 1088

Syros

Arrival at 18:00 / Departure at 23:30

Syros is the capital of Cyclades and once the centre of all trade activities. You can still see and admire the mansions built by the island’s bankers, merchants and ship owners. Ermoupolis is a beautiful city with cobbled streets, two hills, the orthodox and the catholic one staring at each other and a magnificent central square that is definitely worth visiting.

Highlights

• Cosmopolitan Ermoupoli: Beautiful Platia Miaouli
• The Apollon Theater: La Piccola Scala, the First Opera House in Greece
• Ano Syros: A Venetian Settlement from the 13th Century

Day 8

Athens (Lavrion)

Arrival at 07:00

60 kilometres from Athens, Lavrion is a bustling port and is an ancient silver mining center. The city’s silver mines date to prehistory and a bustling port. From here you can tour the following.

Highlights

• Cape Sounion: The Cape of Columns
• The Temple of Poseidon: Keeping on the Good Side of the God of the Sea

The Ship

Celestyal Nefeli

She’ll keep you entertained as she sails the Greek Islands or/and Greece