Monument of Paul in Tarsus (Matson photograph, 1898-1946)

This photograph, catalogued by the Library of Congress as *Monument of Paul in Tarsus. Greek Ortho[dox] Church*, is an early-twentieth-century view associated with the memory of the Apostle Paul in his birthplace, Tarsus. It belongs to the Matson Photograph Collection, the successor to the American Colony Photo Department, and the Library dates it broadly to between 1898 and 1946. (Scholarship)

What it shows

The Library's own caption links the image to a monument of Paul and a Greek Orthodox church in Tarsus. The photograph documents how the apostle's association with the city was marked in the modern period, when Tarsus was already a focus of Christian devotional interest. (Scholarship) The precise identification and present state of the structures shown are best confirmed against the Library's record and on-site sources rather than asserted here; the value of the image is as a historic documentary view.

History of the collection

The American Colony in Jerusalem operated a photographic department from the late nineteenth century, building a large archive of the eastern Mediterranean and Near East. That archive passed to G. Eric and Edith Matson and then to the Library of Congress, which holds it and states that it carries no known restrictions on publication. (Scholarship)

Relevance to Paul and Tarsus

Tarsus is named in the Acts of the Apostles as Paul's home: "I am a Jew of Tarsus in Cilicia, a citizen of no mean city" (Acts 21:39, Douay-Rheims). (Scripture) The city has drawn Christian visitors to sites connected with the apostle over the modern centuries, a continuous pilgrimage interest described more fully in our pilgrimage guide. A historic photograph of a Pauline monument there is a direct record of that devotional memory.

That memory is what St Paul Global Week marks. On 28-30 June 2027, around the 29 June Solemnity of Saints Peter and Paul, a faith-tourism gathering organised by Funny Tourism will bring pilgrims to Tarsus and Mersin. Explore the programme and read why Tarsus.