Biblical Sites in Greece
ent or which are connected
with the Apostles or are held for sacred and religious places.
Agia Sophia Church - Thessaloniki
The Agia Sophia is the largest and most famous Byzantine church in Thessaloniki, Greece. The construction date of the Agia Sophia is not determined, but the modern building is not the first to stand on this site: excavations revealed remains of both a Roman building and an Early Christian basilica near the church. In 1585 the Agia Sophia was converted into a mosque by the Turks. After a fire in 1890, it was reconstructed in 1907-10 and rededicated for Christians in 1912.
Agia Triada Monastery - Meteora
Agia Triada (also Ayia Triada or Aghia Triada; "Holy Trinity") is the most dramatically pos
itioned monastery of the Meteora.
Hermit monks may have lived here at beginning of the 14th
century, but the present monastery was built between 1458 and
1476. The small church ( built in1476) has an exterior of brick
and tile. It has two domes, reflecting two building phases.
Carved into the rock off the passageway into the courtyard is a
round Chapel of John the Baptist (1682), which may occupy the
site of an early hermitage. Holy Trinity owns over 120 religious
manuscripts copied by its monks over the centuries .Ancient Acrotiri - Santorini
Ancient Akrotiri is an important archaeological site on the Greek island of Santorini. The flourishing town was at once destroyed and preserved around 1450 BC by a volcanic eruption. Today it has been partially excavated and is protected from the sun inside by a large shed.
Areopagus (Mars Hill) - Athens
The Areopagus or Mars Hill is a marble hill next to the Acropolis in Athens. It is especially popular with travelers for its connections with a speech made by Paul the Apostle about the identity of "the Unknown God." According to the biblical account
(Acts 17): . A group of Epicurean and Stoic philosophers began to dispute with him. Some of them asked, "What is this babbler trying to say?" Others remarked, "He seems to be advocating foreign gods." They said this because Paul was preaching the good news about Jesus and the resurrection. ...Paul then stood up in the meeting of the Areopagus and said: "Men of Athens! I see that in every way you are very religious. For as I walked around and looked carefully at your objects of worship, I even found an altar with this inscription: TO AN UNKNOWN GOD. Now what you worship as something unknown I am going to proclaim to you."
When they heard about the resurrection of the dead, some of them sneered, but others said, "We want to hear you again on this subject." At that, Paul left the Council. A few men became followers of Paul and believed. Among them was Dionysius, a member of the Areopagus, also a woman named Damaris, and a number of others.
Byzantine Churches - Naxos Islands
Naxos Island is home of remarkable Byzantine chapels. Many of
them contain extraordinary frescoes from the 9th to the 15th
centuries. In recent decades, many of the frescoes have been
carefully restored. Wherever possible, the newer layers of
frescoes have been removed intact to reveal the oldest frescoes
beneath. Most of those that were removed are now on display in
the Byzantine Museum in Athens.
Cave of the Apokalypse - Patmos
About halfway up to the Monastery of St. John on Patmos is the
Cave of the Apocalypse. This sacred grotto is believed to mark
the spot where St. John received his visions from Christ that he
recorded in the Book of Revelation. "I, John, your brother and
companion in the suffering and kingdom
and patient endurance
that are ours in Jesus, was on the island of Patmos because of
the word of God and the testimony of Jesus. On the Lord's Day I
was in the Spirit, and I heard behind me a loud voice like a
trumpet..." (Revelation 1:9-10) .
Corinth
Corinth (Greek Island) is an ancient city about 48 miles west of
Athens on the narrow stretch of land that joins the Peloponnese
to the mainland of Greece. Corinth was an important city in
ancient Greece and it played a major role in the missionary work
of the Apostle Paul. The Apostle Paul visited Corinth in the 50s
AD and later wrote two letters to the Christian community at
Corinth (the books of 1 and 2 Corinthians in the New Testament).
Paul lived in Corinth for 18 months (Acts 18:1-18), working as a
tentmaker and converting as many Jews and pagans as he could.
Although Paul intended to pass through Corinth a second time
before he visited Macedonia, circumstances were such that he
first went from Troas to Macedonia before stopping at Corinth
for a "second benefit" (2 Corinthians 1:15). This time he stayed
in Corinth for three months (Acts 20:3). It was probably during
this second visit in the spring of 58 that Paul wrote the
Epistle to the Romans. Paul's First Epistle to the Corinthians,
written from Ephesus, reflects the difficulties of maintaining a
Christian community in such a cosmopolitan city..
Daphni Monastery
The Daphni Monastery is an 11th-century Byzantine monastery
outside Athens. Founded on the
site of a Greek temple, it is now
a museum and World Heritage Site. Daphni Monastery is one of the
great masterpieces of the Byzantine Empire, especially famed for
its beautiful interior mosaics. Sadly, the church has been
closed for restoration work since 1999 with no estimated date of
completion.
Erechtheion - Athens
The Erecththeion is an ancient Greek temple on the north side of
the Acropolis in Athens, Greece. The temple as seen today was
built between 421 BC and 407 BC, but it is believed to be a
replacement for an older temple, since it is on the site of some
of the most ancient and holy relics of the Athenians.
Gortyna - Crete
Gortyna (also known as Gortyn or Gortys) located in southern
central Crete was a major Roman city and later became the seat
of the first Christian bishop of Crete. St. Titus, a
fellow-worker with the Apostle Paul, preached the Christian
Gospel in Crete (Titus 1:5), and the Basilica of St. Titus (Agios
Titos) in Gortyna marks the traditional site of his martyrdom.
The Basilica of St. Titus represents the best remaining example
of an early Christian basilica in Greece. The 6th- and
7th-century basilica was destroyed by the Arabs in 824 and now
lies in ruins, but some of the apse and transept remain.
Knossos - Crete
Knossos (alternative spellings Knossus, Cnossus, Gnossus) is the
largest Bronze Age archaeological site on Crete and was probably
the ceremonial and political center of the Minoan culture