Better Late than Never - I guess...

I woke up feeling much better, but still had a little residual tiredness. As we departed the hotel in Thessalonica, Tim asked if we wanted to go a little out of our way & see the birthplace of Aristotle. We all did, so we headed to old Stagira. The white marble statue of Aristotle was in a pretty park-like area where various large instruments were placed around the grounds for guests to experience some of the principles Aristotle taught: for example, a prism, a water turbine, a pendulum, optical discs, & parabolic reflectors, to name a few. A little further away were the wall & ruins of ancient Stagira atop a mountain with a view of a beautiful bay below. The bay is a part of the Aegean Sea.

As we continued toward Philippi, we passed by the large Lion statue of Amphipolis. The 4th century lion had been pulled from a river & its original significance is not known. This now small community was mentioned in Acts 17:1 as a place Paul passed by on his way from Philippi to Thessalonica.

We entered the site of Philippi where Paul worked & established a strong church. Before viewing the ruins, we had a nice lunch on site in an open air restaurant. The ruins included a prison where Paul & Silas had been imprisoned. One of our students read from Acts 16 where this is recorded. Other ruins were: the Agora (Marketplace), the theatre, a Byzantine church, & a 5th or 6th century Basilica built to honor Paul. One of the guides in the area told us it was the oldest Greek church in Europe. It is still under excavation. Interesting was the baptistry in the shape of a cross. We walked along part of the Via Egnatia, the Roman road which ran from Rome to Byzantium.

We found the area where Lydia was supposed to have been baptized a quiet, lovely setting near a small stream. The section about this in Acts 16 was read aloud. Bob prayed & we all sang an appropriate song. Near this spot was a small chapel with beautiful glass windows, a painted cupola, & several icons around.

We travelled to Kavala where we stayed the night. Before heading to our hotel, we walked up a long, narrow, winding street to a Byzantine castle (fortress) which provided us a great view of the bay & city.