PAUL THE APOSTLE, APOSTLE TO THE NATIONS IN GREECE Tour

PAUL THE APOSTLE, APOSTLE TO THE NATIONS IN GREECE Tour

In the steps of Saint Paul (Full Package, 9 Days-8 Nights) 16, Kifissias Ave. 2nd Floor. GR 11526, Ampelokipoi, Athens-Greece. Tel : +30 210 74 99 300 Fax: +30 210 77 13 795 e-mail: info@triaenatours.gr 1 st Day Arrival at Athens Airport Transfer to the hotel Rest of the day free Overnight in Athens 2ns Day After breakfast morning Athens tour including visit of the Acropolis, the New Acropolis Museum and the sites visited by Saint Paul Lunch in local tavern in Plaka Early afternoon return to the hotel Rest of the day free Overnight in Athens 3 rd Day Early morning departure from Athens to Kalambaka In early afternoon visit of Meteora and its monasteries Rest of the day free Overnight in Kalambaka 4 th Day Early morning departure from Kalambaka to Vergina to visit the tomb of King Philippos and the excellent Museum. Then procced to Veria. Εarly afternoon visit the sites that Saint Paul gave his speeches For personal activities and overnight in Thessaloniki 5th Day Early morning departure for city tour and for the sites visited by Saint Paul Return to the hotel for personal activities and Overnight in Thessaloniki

6 th Day Morning departure from Thessaloniki to Amphipolis, Kavala (Neapolis) and Philippi Visits of the Museums Lunch En route Return to the hotel for personal activities and Overnight in Thessaloniki 7 th Day Early morning departure from Thessaloniki to Athens Lunch En Route Late afternoon arrival in Athens Return to the hotel for personal activities and Overnight in Athens 8 th Day After early breakfast, departure for Korinthos to visit the sites visited by St. Paul. Early afternoon return to the hotel in Athens for personal activities and Overnight 9 th Day Transfer to the Athens Airport for your flight home Rates per person 5 star hotels 4 star hotels 3 stars hotels In Twin Room 1.690.00 1.560.00 1.410.00 In Single Room 2.290.00 2.160.00 1.880.00 Above rates include: Round trip transfers Athens Airport Hotel Athens Airport One (1) city tour of Athens Lunch in Tavern in Plaka 5-day transportation by deluxe Pullman Coach for 5 days itinerary Athens-Kalambaka-Veria-Thessaloniki-Amphipolis-Kavala (Neapolis)- Philippi-Athens Visit Korinthos Entrance fees to all Archeological Sites and Museums Services of English (or other) speaking official guide Lunches En route Four (4) overnights in Athens Three (3) overnights in Thessaloniki One (1) overnight in Kalambaka Taxes & Services

In the steps of Saint Paul (South Package, 6 Days-5 Nights) 1 st Day Arrival at Athens Airport Transfer to the hotel Rest of the day free Overnight in Athens 2ns Day After breakfast morning Athens tour including visit of the Acropolis and sites visited by Saint Paul Lunch in local tavern in Plaka Early afternoon return to the hotel Rest of the day free Overnight in Athens 3 rd Day Morning transfer to Piraeus (port of Athens) Embarkation on the deluxe Cruise Ship Departure for Mykonos Overnight on board 4 th Day After breakfast morning Athens tour including visit of the New Acropolis Museum and sites visited by Saint Paul Lunch in Plaka Rest of the day free for personal activities Overnight in Athens 5 th Day Continuation of Cruise Arrival in Kusadasi (Turkey) Visit of Ephesus Return to the Cruise ship Departure for Patmos Visit of the monastery of the Apocalypse Overnight on board 6 th Day Early morning arrival in Piraeus Transfer to the Athens Airport for your flight home

(South Package, 6 Days-5 Nights) Rates pe r person inside cabin outside cabin In Twin Room/Cab in 810.00 890.00 In Single Room/Cabin 1.350.00 1.540.00 Above rates include: Transfers Athens Airport Hotel, hotel-piraeus and Piraeus- Athens Airport Two (2) city tours of Athens Lunch in Tavern in Plaka 3-Day (3 Nights) cruise in the Aegean islands and Turkey Tour to Ephesus All meals (three) and various snacks daily Entrance fees to the mentioned tours and visits Services of English (or other) speaking official guide during mentioned tours Two (2) overnights in Athens in 5 star hotel Taxes & Services All Port taxes

In the steps of Saint Paul (Short Package, 5 Days-4 Nights) 1 st Day Arrival at Athens Airport Transfer to the hotel Rest of the day free for personal activities Overnight in Athens 2ns Day After breakfast departure for Korinthos Visits of sites visited by Saint Paul Departure for Delphi Lunch En Route Visit of Oracle and Delphi Museum Late afternoon departure for Athens Arrival in Athens, rest of the day free Overnight in Athens 3 rd Day Morning transfer to Flisvos (Yacht harbor of Athens) Embarkation on Cruise Ship Departure for One day cruise including visits to the islands of Hydra, Poros and Aegina Lunch on board Late evening arrival in Flisvos harbor Transfer to the hotel Overnight in Athens 4 th Day Morning Athens city tour including visit of the New Acropolis Museum and residential Area of Athens Return to the hotel Rest of the day free for personal activities Overnight in Athens 5 th Day Transfer to the Athens Airport for your flight home

Rates per person 5 star hotels 4 star hotels 3 stars hotels In Twin Room 680.00 600.00 520.00 In Single room 1.100.00 940.00 790.00 Above rates include: Round trip transfers Athens Airport Hotel and Hotel-Athens Airport One (1) city tour of Athens Lunch in Tavern in Plaka One (1) Day cruise to the islands of Hydra, Poros & Aegina, Transfers included Entrance fees to the mentioned tours and visits Services of English (or other) speaking official guide during mentioned tours Four (4) overnights in Athens Taxes & Services

PAUL THE APOSTLE, APOSTLE TO THE NATIONS IN GREECE MARIA P. PALERMOU ARCHAEOLOGIST-HISTORIAN BYZANTINOLOGIST 2016

Apostle St Paul 1610-14 Oil on canvas, 97 x 77 cm Museo de El Greco, Toledo

Paul the Apostle, Apostle to the Nations, in Greece Apostle Paul was born to Jewish parents in Tarsus of Cilicia around AD 5-15, an era when according to Strabo, this city was one of the major centers of Greek letters and many Stoic philosophers. It was there that Paul, whose Jewish name was Saul, was taught the Greek language, came in contact with the Greek thought and later studied close to the Hellenist Gamaliel who initiated him into the Jewish theology. Paul, a persecutor of Christians in principle, thanks to the vision of Christ as he neared Damascus he was transformed into fervently espousing the Lords Teachings and into an Apostle to the Nations.

After his participation in the first Apostolic Synod in Jerusalem and during the Second Tour, Paul decided to leave Troas, through a vision, where he was by that time and come to Greece. Thus he sailed (AD 49 or 50) accompanied by Silas and as well as by Timothy and Luke the Evangelist, both of them of Greek descent. After they arrived in Samothrace, the next day they sailed to Neapolis (nowadays Kavala) and by land they ended up in the famous city of Philippi. Afterwards, through Amphipolis and Apollonia they arrived in Thessaloniki, from where they had to leave because of their persecution by the fanatic Jewish people.

Eventually they fled to Veria, but they also left this town very quickly because the Jewish people of Thessaloniki arrived again and riots broke out. In doing so, they fled and ended up in the city of Athens. The presence of Apostle Paul in Athens, around AD 51, in the center of Ancient Greek Philosophy, was a milestone in the course of the history of Humankind. With his speech to the Supreme Court of Areios Pagos (Supreme Court of Cassation) the Apostle to the Nations surprised the Athenians, referring to the Risen Christ but while some assured him that they wanted to hear him in the future again, some others mocked him, as their minds couldn t grasp the miracle of the Resurrection.

Paul's speech to the Supreme Court of Athens, despite the initially skeptical attitude of the Athenians, attracted both the Judge Dionysius Areopagite, and a woman named Damaris, who were among the audience and some others that all together formed the Christian core of Athens. The final station of this first journey of the Apostle Paul in Greece was Corinth, where he stayed about a year and a half. From there, he departed for Ephesus. The efforts of Apostle Paul regarding the establishment of the Churches in Greece continued during his Third and Fourth Missionary Journey, when he visited Crete and Macedonia.

The second imprisonment of Apostle Paul in Rome resulted in martyrdom by beheading following his trial and conviction from the Roman Court without previously being tortured, as he was entitled as a Roman citizen (AD 68?). Apostle Paul's work contributed greatly to the consolidation of Christian Faith that was maintained and blossomed during the persecutions for more than 200 years until after AD 313, when with the Edict of Milan, Constantine the Great ensured the religious freedom of the Roman State. Since then, the first Christian churches emerged and Byzantine Art evolved in all of its forms as an expression and combination of Christian Faith and Greek Wisdom.

We invite you to experience this particular Art in all of its forms as it has survived in all the regions of Greece where Christianity was founded by Paul the Apostle of Nations.

Philippi The city of Philippi developed rapidly due to its strategic and economic importance and flourished throughout the Hellenistic and Roman period. With the famous battle of Philippi in 42 BC the city was converted by Octavian into a Roman colony (Colonia Augusta Julia Philippensis) and besides an economical center became an Administrative and Cultural center of the wider area.

In this city, in the middle of the 1st century AD (AD 49/50) Apostle Paul founded the first Christian Church on European soil.

The rich archaeological finds kept in the Archaeological Museum of Philippi and the site of the excavations prove that the city continued to undergo a development boom. The Cathedral "Octagonal" Temple dedicated to Apostle Paul and the three grandiose Early Christian Basilicas (A`, B`, C`) confirm that the city of Philippi became the birthplace of Christianity in Macedonia.

Archaeological Museum of Philippi

Amphipolis Amphipolis was founded as a colony of the Athenians in 438/437 BC at the estuary of the river Strymon, it defected in 422 BC from the First Athenian Alliance and as autonomous it was conquered until 357 BC by Philip B` king of Macedonia. Of course, because of its wealth, the city became a major economic and cultural center throughout the Hellenistic and during the Roman period.

The rich finds of Amphipolis are on display at Amphipolis Museum and at the Museum of Kavala, while the excavation site still continues to surprise us pleasantly by the finds that are constantly coming to light, such as the last phase of excavations at the grandiose Funerary Monument of Amphipolis belonging to the Hellenistic Period.

Apostle Paul on his way to Thessaloniki passed through Amphipolis where the seed of Christianity was planted. The Round Temple and the four excavated early Christian Basilicas indicate that Amphipolis was a Christian center during the Early Christian Period.

Amphipolis Tomb

Thessaloniki The city of Thessaloniki holds a dominant position in the area of the Thermaic Gulf and was founded around 316/315 BC, according to Strabo, by Cassander the King of Macedonia, who gave the city the name of his wife Thessaloniki, sister of Alexander the Great. Due to its geographical location, as Thessaloniki holds a dominant position both in the west and the east but also connects the Balkans to the Aegean Sea, it was the center of economic development not only in the Hellenistic period but as well during the Roman and Byzantine period.

After its liberation from Ottoman rule in 1912, it has been the center of Northern Greece, both economic and cultural, right up to the present day. Around AD 51, it was visited by Saint Paul who addressed the strong Jewish community there and from which he was subsequently prosecuted. Nevertheless, the seed was planted and Thessaloniki became the center from where Christianity was spread in the Balkans. This is testified by the two epistles of Apostle Paul to the Thessalonians.

First Bishop of Thessaloniki was proclaimed the disciple of Apostle Paul, Aristarchus. So, when Caesar Galerius chose Thessaloniki as his headquarters, Christianity had already created a strong community in the city. It is no coincidence that in AD 303 Saint Demetrius, the patron saint of Thessaloniki, became a martyr during the harsh persecution of the Christians by Diocletian and Galerius. So, when in AD 313 Constantine the Great along with Licinius signed the Edict of Milan, with which Christianity was recognized as one of the official religions of the Roman Empire, Thessaloniki emerged as the Christian center of the Balkans, co-reigning" and the second most important Byzantine city after Constantinople.

Today, the visitor of Thessaloniki can pay a visit to all those church monuments of the Byzantine era that cover all the time periods related to the evolution of Byzantine art, including among them the famous Rotunda, Saint Demetrius, the church of the Virgin Acheiropoiitos, the church of Saint David and the katholikon of Monastery Latomou.

Arch of Galerius

The Church of Saint Catherine

The mosaic inside the church of Saint David

The City Walls

Archaeological Museum of Thessaloniki

Veria Veria is a city in western Macedonia that together with Aigai and Pella was an important center during the heyday of the state of Macedonian Kings but also later in the Hellenistic and Roman times. The existence of Jewish community there led Apostle Paul to visit the city after fleeing from Thessaloniki. Thus, after the dominance of Christianity, Veria became one of the growth centers of the New Religion.

The tribune from which Apostle Paul spoke, according to the tradition, and the temples of the Old Metropolis, Saint John the Theologian, the church of the Savior Christ and other Byzantine and post- Byzantine churches that adorn the city testify the continued maintenance of the Christian faith from the time of the first Preaching of Saint Paul until today. The exhibits of the Byzantine period displayed at Veria Museum are very important demonstrating the direct relationship which kept by that time the city with the major centers of Byzantium such as Constantinople, Thessaloniki and Kastoria.

Byzantine Museum of Veria Archaeological Site of Aigai (modern name Vergina) Vergina To the south of River Haliacmon, in the land of Macedon, as described by Herodotus, on the foothills of Pieria, the ancient Macedonian mount, lays Aigai, the first city of Macedon, the land with many goats ( Aigai in ancient Greek means goats ).

Resurrection of Christ Byzantine church The impressively large number of Byzantine and post-byzantine churches gave the city the nickname Little Jerusalem and a great reputation as a regional religious center of the Byzantine Empire. Today, at the city center, 48 Byzantine and post Byzantine churches with beautiful frescoes are well preserved out of the 72 that once existed in the city.

Veria Apostle Paul s Tribune

Meteora The Holy Monastery of Agios (Saint) Stefanos

City of Athens Athens was the birthplace and development center of the Classical Greek Culture which flourished as a cultural center, not only during the 5th and 4th century but as well as during the Hellenistic period. During its conquest by the Romans after the middle of the 2nd century BC, due to the fact that the Romans were widely known to be interested in the Greek spirit, the city of Athens together with is Philosophical Schools continued to be a big draw for every spiritual man of that time.

The democracy that was born and developed in this city since the beginning of the 5th century onwards, through the freedom of speech and expression that it ensured, was the main reason not only for the influx of all the pioneering thinkers of Classical Antiquity but also for their stay in the city. Thus, in Athens several scholars of Natural Philosophy taught but also the Sophists and Socrates and Plato and Aristotle and the Stoics and the Sceptics and the Epicureans.

In this city, which for centuries was the cradle of every new philosophical current and was full of philosophical schools, came the Greek speaking Apostle Paul, about AD 51 to preach Christianity. And despite some initial objections, many received Paul's message and Christianity developed. So, after the decline of philosophical schools during the second half of the 4th AD century and the final blow to the Philosophical School of Athens in AD 529 by Emperor Justinian, everything points to the fact that Christianity was adopted as the official religion of the Athenians.

Consequently, it is not surprising that after the devastating earthquake of Corinth (550-551 AD) Corinthians craftsmen that fled to Athens built near the banks of Ilissos the famous Basilica of Ilissos or Martyrium of Saint Leonides near Olympieion just like Basilica of Lechaion. In addition, Parthenon on the Acropolis of Athens had been converted into a Christian Church during the Byzantine era and it was there that Basil II the Bulgaroctonus came to worship the Virgin Mary of Athens (Panagia Athiniotissa) after his victory against the Bulgarians.

Today the sole purpose of the visitor of Athens is to visit Acropolis and admire Parthenon, Propylaea, the Temple of Athena Nike, the Temple of Poseidon Erechtheus and Athena Polias and as well as the finds hosted by the Acropolis Museum and the National Archaeological Museum. We propose to the visitor of Athens to visit the church of the Holy Apostles of Solaki in the Ancient Agora. This church is the only one that has survived in the Ancient Agora, while the rest of them and they were many- were demolished by the American School of Classical Studies, during the excavations that began in the 1930s and were completed in 1956.

Also, the visitor of Athens in Monastiraki can visit the Church of Pantanassa, the Virgin Mary church of Kapnikarea, the church of Agios Eleftherios and as he walks up to Filellinon Street, he can admire the church of Holy Trinity (nowadays Russian church) which was built between 1015 and 1031. In Plaka, the visitor can walk around the church of Virgin Savior (Transfiguration of the Savior- Kotaki ) and the church of Saint Catherine and Saint Nicholas Rangavas, all dating back to the 11th century. Eventually, in Thission the church of Saints Asomati belonging to the second half of the 11th century fascinates the visitor.

Of course the visitor of Athens should visit the Byzantine Museum of Athens which accommodates very important works of Byzantine art from all the time periods of Byzantium.

The Byzantine Church of the Holy Apostles of Solaki

Panagia Gorgoepikoos Church of Holy Trinity

Church of Panaghia Kapnikarea Agioi Pantes

Aghios Georgios Situated on the hill of the Nymphs, close to the National Observatory, at Thesseion, Aghia Marina was built on the ruins of an ancient temple, dug into the rock, where an underground water depository was also found. Very close to where the church is now, the earliest known sanctuary of Zeus in Attica was found.

Monastery of Daphni Ag. Sotera tou Kotaki

Statuette of Orpheus (4th century), from Aegina

Byzantine museum

Corinth During his second Missionary Journey, after leaving the city of Athens, Apostle Paul visited Corinth, where he stayed for eighteen months with Priscilla and Aquila and they all together exercised the trade of making tents. In Corinth, Paul must have gone in AD 51, as attested by the Acts of the Apostles. At that time there was a Jewish community and Synagogue in Corinth which was a thriving commercial center.

At first, Apostle Paul addressed this community to teach Christianity, but he faced the strong reaction of the Jewish people of the city of Corinth, who brought him before the proconsul Gallio for trial on the charge of preaching "illegal beliefs". But Gallio refused to try the case because he claimed that it was an internal affair of the Jewish community. Since then, Apostle Paul decided to turn to the Gentiles, several of whom embraced Christianity. Thus, as revealed by A` and B` Epistles of Paul to the Corinthians, a strong Christian Church was organized in Corinth.

Tradition has it that Paul in order to apologize before Gallio was led to the center of Roman Agora on a large platform placed at this point, from which the officials addressed the citizens of Corinth. During the Byzantine period this point of the tribune was converted into a Christian church and was discovered in recent excavations (2011-2013).

The triumph of Christianity after 313 AD led the Christians of Corinth in constructing famous temples of Basilica during the Early Christian period and particularly during the second half of the 5th and the first half of the 6th century. Amongst them stand out the three-aisled basilica with transversal transept in Lechaio, dedicated to Leonides and seven women who were martyred with him, Saint Codratos Basilica, Saint Skoutelis Basilica, the three-aisled Basilica with a transversal non-protruding transept in Kraneio. These monuments were destroyed by the devastating earthquake in 550-551 AD but they have been revealed thanks to the archaeological research.

The ancient Roman fountain.

Marble head of Asklepios

Temple of Apollo with Acrocorinth in the background

Early Christian Byzantine Church of Agios Leonidis Byzantine art

See the stories of Apostle Paul come to life as you follow in his footsteps throughout Greece.

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