Footsteps of Paul
Footsteps of Paul Tour
Follow in the footsteps of Paul and visit John's seven churches as you tour through Greece and Asia Minor Turkey.
Trip highlights include: Istanbul, Ephesus, Philippi, Thessaloniki, Berea, Vergina, Meteora, Athens, Mars Hill, Patmos, and Corinth.
SAMPLE Itinerary (subject to change, depends on arrival time of day and time of year)
Day 1: (Atlanta to Istanbul) Today you will leave the continental United States traveling on a Boeing 777 with Air France.
Day 2: Arrival in Istanbul where you will be met and transferred to your chartered coach. You will visit St. Sophia and the Hippodrome, and overnight in Instanbul. (Daily itinerary depends on the time of your arrival.)
Day 3: Depending on your time of arrival on the previous day, you may visit the Archeology Museum, Underground Cisterns, Blue Mosque, and Chora Museum. You will take a late evening flight to Izmir for dinner and overnight.
Day 4: You will visit Ephesus, St. John's Basilica, and Smyrna Fortress. You will eat dinner and overnight near Bergama.
Day 5: Visit Pergamum (Acropolis & Asclepion), Assos, Troy, and Dardanelles. You will transfer buses at Keshan at the Ipsala-Kipi border, and cross the border into Greece. Overnight at "Charis" (Grace) camp in Alexandroupolis or local hotel depending on the final number of participants.
Day 6: In Philippi (Acts 16:12-40; 20:6) Paul preached his evangelistic sermon to women who had gathered at the river. You will visit the river where Paul baptized Lydia, a purple fabric merchant, who became the first Christian woman to be baptized on European soil (Acts 16:14, 15, 40). You will see a crypt, dating from the Roman period, which according to church tradition may have been the place where Paul was flogged and imprisoned. Also at Philippi you will see, the ancient Roman Agora (Forum) built during the time of Augustus and mentioned in the Book of Acts as the place where Paul was publicly punished after he healed the demon-possessed girl (Acts 16:19). You will see the Basilicas and the Greek Theatre (4th century BC), which was converted into an arena by the Romans and used during the persecutions of the early days of the church. Paul's letter to the Philippians was addressed to the local Christians 14 years after his first visit there. You will also see Neapolis (present day Kavalla), Greece's most picturesque mainland port. Paul arrived in this city (Acts 16:11) with his coworkers Timothy (Acts 16:1-3; 17:14-15; 18:5; 20:4, 5) and Silas (Acts 15:22-35, 40, 41; 16:25-40; 17:4, 14, 15). On the way back to Thessaloniki you will see the remains of the ancient famous road Via Egnatia. You will pass by the ancient cities of Amphipolis and Apollonia, which are mentioned in the Book of Acts (Acts 17:1). Dinner and overnight.
Day 7: Today you will travel to the recently discovered archaeological site of Vergina, the old capitol of the Macedonian Kingdom (5th to 2nd centuries BC). There you will visit the grave of Philip the 2nd, the father of Alexander the Great, which was found intact. Vergina is the birth place of Macedonia and located very close to the biblical city of Beria which you may be able to visit as well along with the Jewish synagogue (if the time allows). After lunch you will continue to the city of Thessaloniki (Acts 17:1-13). Paul wrote two epistles to Thessalonians, both in the canon of the New Testament. Here you will try to visit the Roman Agora (Forum) and the Basilica of Saint Demetrios. You will see the White Tower, the statue of Alexander the Great and the remains of the Palace complex of Galerius (late 3rd century AD). The Arch of Galerius and Rotonda was later converted to the Church of Saint George. You will also see the City Walls and the Great Gate, which connects the city with Via Egnatia (Via Egnatia was the transcontinental east-west road of the Roman Empire built on the 2nd century BC). Dinner and overnight.
Day 8: Visit the wonderful place of Meteora monasteries at the top of exotic rocks. This is a tremendous introduction to the Eastern Orthodox Church. You will continue your travel to Athens, Greece for overnight and dinner.
Day 9: The architectural splendors of this ancient city are majestic. You will visit the world-renown hill of Acropolis along with the new Acropolis Museum. Special emphasis will be on the visit to the Areopagus (Mars Hill) where Paul gave his famous speech to the Athenian philosophers (Acts 17:18-34). You will also be visiting the Ancient Agora (Forum), where Paul met the Philosophers, the Stoa of Attalus and the Temple of Hephaestus. The meanings of democracy, city assembly (ecclesia) and reasoning (logos) were first conceived and practiced in this part of the world. Many of the terms used by the Athenian Democracy were incorporated in the church's terminology. (ecclesia, logos). You will eat dinner at your hotel in Athens and then travel to Patmos around 7:00 p.m. by overnight ferry boat. You will arrive around 2:00 a.m. and stay overnight in a local hotel.
Day 10: Spend the day in Patmos visiting the monastery of John the Evangelist and the Grotto of Revelation. You will have time to enjoy the wonderful city of Patmos and have dinner in a Greek island restaurant or in your hotel. You will travel back to Athens on an overnight ferry boat.
Day 11: Today you will arrive at the port of Pireous and be picked up by your bus in order to visit Corinth (Acts 18:1-18). Corinth is the city where Paul stayed for one and a half years during his first visit, the longest he stayed in any of the cities he visited except Ephesus. Paul wrote at least four letters addressed to the church of Corinth two of which are found in the New Testament. From Corinth he wrote three and possibly four epistles addressed to the first Christians in Rome, Thessaloniki and Galatia. You will be visiting the archaeological museum, the Ancient Agora (Forum) and the bema where Paul stood in front of Gallio (Acts 18:12-17), the Roman Pro-Consul of Achaea. You will see the inscription of Erastus, the treasurer of the city, mentioned in the epistle to Romans. (Acts 19:22; Romans 16:23; 2 Timothy 4:20) You will also enjoy seeing the Temple of Apollo and the hill of Acrocorinth, where during the time of classical Greece used to be the famous Temple of Aphrodite. Dinner and overnight.
Day 12: Visiting New Life Church for the morning service then have free time in the city of Athens for souvenir shopping. You will take a tour at Cape Sounio in the evening. You will also have a special Greek night at Cosmovision Center. Overnight at your hotel.
Day 13: Departing full of memories back to the USA!
