11/18/2023
Philippi, Greece is about 9 miles north-west of Kavalla. The Via Egnatia, cuts through the middle of the ancient site. Upon entering the site, visitors find themselves in its Hellenistic theatre which was renovated in the second century AD for gladiatorial fighting and may have held up to 50,000 people.
The start of the Christian period at Philippi was marked by the arrival of St. Paul in 49-50 AD and the founding of the first Christian community on European soil. The activities of Paul and his companions, Silas, Timothy, and Luke, their imprisonment, and their miraculous liberation are described in Acts 16:12-40. The first Christian convert the dealer in purple cloth was a woman named Lydia. She was baptized in the waters of the Krenides, outside the modern village named in her honor.