Thessaloniki is an ancient city. Founded in 315 BC, it has been a center of trade, learning, and more over the centuries. Looking at modern, crowded Thessaloniki, it can be hard to grasp how old it is, even with elements of that age staring you in the face at the oddest times. Ancient walls still stand and Roman baths have outlasted many other structures.
One of the subway entrances has this interesting timeline that also shows the depth where you find different ruins. In fact, the subway was years in the making because they were almost continually hitting archaeological sites that had to be surveyed, removed, etc.
It was also the site of early Christian evangelism, with the Apostle Paul spending time there preaching, and he later wrote two epistles to the church there (1 & 2 Thessalonians). The church there was important in spreading early Christianity to the world, and had a role in the ultimate legalization of Christianity. Some would rate Thessaloniki as the second most important city of what became the Byzantine empire, and it also filled a similar role for the early church.
The picture at the very top is of a small room, now chapel, surrounded by a newer (relatively) and larger church. It is widely believed that this room was in fact one of the earliest churches in Thessaloniki if not the first. It is also believed that it was here that Paul preached and/or talked with small groups of faithful and those interested in Christianity. Many of the decorations you see are ancient, but came later. Originally it was probably quite plain. Most early church services were in people’s homes, with altar cloths and other items being removed afterwards to help protect people. A common type of early church was a house-church, where the church was a house converted into a church, again so it didn’t stand out for the Romans and others to notice.
It is a bit awe-inspiring, and humbling, to stand where he stood. Where he preached knowing that doing so marked him for death — and doing it anyway. And, yes, Paul did preach or discuss in the open. More on that in another post, as this was not my only brush with Paul on this trip.
If you would like to help me with this trip, seminary courses, and more, feel free to hit the fundraiser at A New Life on GiveSendGo, use the options in the Tip Jar in the upper right, or drop me a line to discuss other methods. I’ve added Cash App ($CliffPow7) and Venmo (@Clifford-Powers-5). There is also the Amazon Wish List in the Bard’s Jar. Getting hit by lightning is not fun! It is thanks to your gifts and prayers that I am still going. Thank you.
That is very cool that you visited that little ‘church’ where Paul preached.
Thanks! More to come, got to visit another site where he made the case for Christianity to the ‘learned men’ of the day. The other thing that was neat about my time in Greece was how resourceful some early Christians were in hiding their activities.