The Places
Places in Paul's world
The cities, sites and roads of the Apostle Paul's world — from Tarsus his birthplace to the ports and highland towns of his journeys — each with location, history, and what a visitor sees today.
Cilicia (ancient); Tarsus, Mersin Province (modern)
Gözlükule: The Mound Beneath Tarsus
An encyclopedic, cited reference on Gözlükule, the settlement mound in the middle of modern Tarsus — the only place where the ancient city has been excavated stratigraphically in depth, dug by Hetty Goldman in the 1930s and reopened by Boğaziçi University in 2001.
Read →Attica
Athens: The Areopagus, the Unknown God, and the Apostle from Tarsus
Athens in the age of Paul: the philosophical capital of the Greek world, the Areopagus sermon of Acts 17, the altar to the unknown god, the conversions of Dionysius and Damaris, and what a visitor finds on the ground today.
Read →Central Macedonia (Imathia)
Berea: The Macedonian City Where the Bereans Searched the Scriptures Daily
Berea (modern Veria, Greece), where Paul of Tarsus preached after fleeing Thessalonica and the Bereans examined the Scriptures daily (Acts 17:10-14). The ancient city, the biblical account, and what remains today.
Read →Mediterranean coast of the Sharon Plain, between Tel Aviv and Haifa
Caesarea Maritima: Herod's Harbour City Where Paul Was Imprisoned Two Years
Caesarea Maritima was Herod's great harbour city and the Roman capital of Judaea. Here Cornelius was baptised, Paul was held two years and heard by Felix, Festus and Agrippa, and the voyage to Rome began. Its theatre, aqueduct and harbour survive in modern Israel.
Read →Damascus Governorate, southwestern Syria
Damascus: The City Where Saul's Road Ended and Paul's Began
Damascus in the age of St Paul: the conversion on the road (Acts 9), the Street called Straight, Ananias, the basket escape, and what remains of the ancient city today.
Read →Northern Region (St Paul's Bay)
Malta (Melita): The Island Where Paul Was Shipwrecked
Malta, ancient Melita, where Paul of Tarsus was shipwrecked on the voyage to Rome (Acts 27-28): the viper, Publius, three winter months, and the island's deep Pauline heritage.
Read →Aydin Province (ancient Ionia, Roman province of Asia)
Miletus: The Harbour City of Paul's Farewell to the Ephesian Elders
Miletus, the great Ionian harbour city where Paul delivered his farewell to the Ephesian elders (Acts 20:17-38). Its history, silted harbours, and the ruins at Balat, Aydin, Turkiye.
Read →Paphos District, southwestern Cyprus
Paphos: The Roman Capital of Cyprus Where Saul Was First Called Paul
Paphos, the Roman capital of Cyprus, is where Acts 13 records the conversion of the proconsul Sergius Paulus, the confrontation with Elymas, and the first use of the name Paul. A guide to the ancient city, the biblical account, and its UNESCO-listed remains.
Read →Antalya Province (ancient Pamphylia)
Perga: The Pamphylian City Where Paul Landed on His First Missionary Journey
Perga (Perge) in Pamphylia: Paul's first landfall in Asia Minor on the first missionary journey (Acts 13:13), the place John Mark turned back, and one of the best-preserved Roman cities in Türkiye.
Read →Isparta Province
Pisidian Antioch: The Roman Colony Where Paul First Turned to the Gentiles
Pisidian Antioch, a Roman colonia on the Via Sebaste near modern Yalvac in Isparta, Turkiye, is where Acts 13 records Paul's first full sermon in a synagogue and the decisive turn of his mission toward the gentiles.
Read →East coast of Cyprus, Bay of Famagusta
Salamis: The First Stop of Paul's First Missionary Journey
Salamis, the great harbour city on the east coast of Cyprus, was the first place Paul and Barnabas preached on the first missionary journey (Acts 13:5). An encyclopedic guide to the ancient city, its synagogues, the Barnabas tradition, and the ruins near Famagusta today.
Read →Macedonia
Thessalonica: The Free City of Macedonia Where Paul Preached Three Sabbaths
Thessalonica, a free city of Roman Macedonia on the Via Egnatia, received Paul on his second missionary journey (Acts 17:1-9). Inscriptions confirm its politarchs, and 1 Thessalonians may be the earliest New Testament letter. Today it is Thessaloniki, Greece.
Read →Çanakkale Province (the ancient Troad, north-western Asia Minor)
Troas: The Harbour Where Paul Saw the Macedonian Vision
Alexandria Troas, the Roman port near Dalyan in Canakkale, Turkiye, where Paul received the Macedonian vision (Acts 16:9), the "we" passages begin, and Eutychus was restored to life.
Read →Syria (ancient province); Hatay Province (modern)
Antioch on the Orontes: Paul's Mission Base and Where the Disciples Were First Called Christians
An encyclopedic, cited reference on Antioch on the Orontes (modern Antakya) — the great Syrian metropolis that was the base of Paul's missionary journeys, the church that sent him out, the place where the disciples were first named Christians, and how it differs from Pisidian Antioch.
Read →Cilicia (ancient); Mersin Province (modern)
Cleopatra's Gate, Tarsus: The Last City Gate of Paul's Birthplace
An encyclopedic, cited reference on Cleopatra's Gate (Kancık Kapı) in Tarsus — the last surviving city gate of the Apostle Paul's birthplace, its medieval rebuilding, the 41 BC Antony and Cleopatra meeting behind its name, and what is fact versus tradition.
Read →Achaia
Corinth: The Roman City Where Paul Stayed Eighteen Months
An encyclopedic, cited reference on ancient Corinth — the Roman capital of Achaia where Paul stayed a year and six months, met Priscilla and Aquila, and was tried before the proconsul Gallio, whose datable term anchors the whole chronology of Paul's life.
Read →Cyprus (Roman senatorial province)
Cyprus: Barnabas's Homeland and the First Mission Field
An encyclopedic, cited reference on Cyprus in the story of Paul — the first territory the mission crossed the sea to reach, the homeland of Barnabas, the scene of a Roman proconsul's conversion at Paphos, and the point where Acts first names Saul as Paul; with the two Pauline harbours of Salamis and Paphos, what a visitor sees today, and a clear line between fact and tradition.
Read →Lycaonia (Roman province of Galatia)
Derbe: The Easternmost Point of Paul's First Journey
An encyclopedic, cited reference on Derbe in Lycaonia — the ancient city that marked the turning point of Paul's first missionary journey, its role in his story, the scripture that names it, how its site was identified, and what is fact versus tradition.
Read →Asia (Roman province)
Ephesus: The City of Paul's Longest Ministry
An encyclopedic, cited reference on Ephesus — the great harbour city of Roman Asia, home of the Temple of Artemis, where Paul spent the longest recorded ministry of his career, the riot of the silversmiths, the farewell at Miletus, and what a visitor sees at the ruins near Selçuk today.
Read →Lycaonia / Phrygia (ancient); province of Galatia (Roman); Konya Province (modern)
Iconium: The Plateau City on Paul's First Journey
An encyclopedic, cited reference on Iconium — the Lycaonian plateau city that continues today as Konya, Türkiye — its role on the Apostle Paul's first missionary journey, the key passages in Acts, what survives beneath the modern city, and what is fact versus tradition.
Read →Judaea (Roman province)
Jerusalem in the Life of Paul
An encyclopedic, cited reference on Jerusalem in the life of the Apostle Paul — the city of his education at the feet of Gamaliel, of Stephen's death, of his post-conversion visits, of the Council on gentile admission, and of his final arrest in the Temple; with what a visitor sees today and a clear line between fact and tradition.
Read →Lycaonia (Roman province of Galatia)
Lystra: The Colony of Timothy and the Stoning of Paul
An encyclopedic, cited reference on Lystra in Lycaonia — the Roman colony where Paul healed a lame man, was acclaimed as a god and then stoned (Acts 14), and where he later met Timothy (Acts 16). Its location at the Zoldera mound near Hatunsaray, Konya, and what remains today.
Read →Macedonia
Philippi: Paul's First Christian Congregation in Europe
An encyclopedic, cited reference on Philippi in Macedonia — the Roman colony where Paul founded the first church on European soil: Lydia's conversion, the slave-girl and the prison earthquake (Acts 16), the letter to the Philippians, and what remains at the excavated site today.
Read →Cilicia (Mersin Province)
The Roman Road: Tarsus, the Cilician Gates and the Highways of Paul's Mission
An encyclopedic, cited reference on the Roman road at Tarsus and the wider Roman road network Paul travelled — the excavated basalt street in central Tarsus, the Cilician Gates through the Taurus, what a visitor sees today, and where documented fact ends and tradition begins.
Read →Italia (Roman Italy)
Rome: The City Where Paul's Journey Ended
An encyclopedic, cited reference on Rome in the story of the Apostle Paul — the imperial capital toward which the Acts of the Apostles moves, the destination of his appeal to Caesar, the community that received his letter to the Romans, and, by early tradition, the place of his martyrdom.
Read →Cilicia (ancient); Tarsus, Mersin Province (modern)
St Paul's Well, Tarsus: The Site Tradition Ties to Paul's Home
An encyclopedic, cited reference on St Paul's Well (Sen Pol Kuyusu) in the old town of Tarsus — a Roman-period well traditionally said to mark the site of the Apostle Paul's family home, what a visitor sees, and what is fact versus tradition.
Read →Cilicia (ancient); Mersin Province (modern)
Tarsus: The Birthplace of the Apostle Paul
An encyclopedic, cited reference on Tarsus in Cilicia — the ancient Roman provincial capital on the Cilician plain that Paul names as his home city, its role in his story, the pilgrimage sites shown today, and what is fact versus tradition.
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