Saturday September 18

We stayed overnight in a lovely hotel in Kavala.

Ephesus Theatre

We're not sure if it's because we're in Greece rather than Turkey or just because this is the first 4 star hotel we've stayed in but we'd have been happy to spend a few nights here. Kavala was originally Neapolis, one of the ports that Paul used to travel from Asia to Macedonia/Greece and back.





This morning after a beautiful breakfast, (I mention this because it was the first time I could describe breaakfast in such terms!) we drove to ancient Philippi, again one of the cities that Paul visited and to which he wrote one of his letters. There is extensive excavation happening, by two groups, one French and the other Greek (separated by a wire fence!). The theatre is in the French section.





We saw two Basilicas - ancient churches dedicated to Christ the King. The one shown here was never consecrated because the dome roof fell in soon after being built and they abandoned it.

Basilica B

Agora

We saw the marketplace (Agora) where Paul probably cast out the evil spirit from the young girl, thus causing a riot and his and Silas' imprisonment. We were also shown a room that some people suggest is the gaol, but I wasn't convinced, as it seemed too small.

Apart from the Basilicas there is an interesting hexagonal shaped church with some beautiful mosaics on the floor and an intact crypt containing a sarcophagus dating back to long before the church was built.

Hexagonal Church

River outside Philippi

We then drove to the riverside site of a Roman bridge where it's thought Paul probably met and baptised Lydia and the other Jewish women with her. Naturally the riverside now has both a chapel next to the river and a baptistry connected to the river where people come to be baptised. While we were there a child was being baptised in the chapel so we couldn't go inside.