Our tour officially began today with a tour of Thessaloniki, where the Apostle Paul preached in a Jewish synagogue, established a Christian church and wrote two letters to the Christian community of the city, known as the Epistles to the Thessalonians. Our bus took us up the mountain where we had a spectacular view of the city. Bill Potter took my photo with Mount Olympus in the background.

We next stopped at Vlatadon Monastery, the only Byzantine monastery in Thessaloniki. According to tradition, St. Paul preached the divine Word here to the Thessalonians. The existing building dates back to the 14th century. We were not allowed to photograph the interior of the chapel, because a service was in progress, but at least we were allowed to enter quietly and hear the Greek Orthodox chanting by the priests. I was especially surprised to hear the words “alleluia” sung, because as I understand it, the Church is now in Lent, with Easter not being celebrated until May 5.

I found this image on the internet of the interior.

Our next stop was a pilgrimage site called the Brotherhood of Men of Thessaloniki Park, where Apostle Paul is said to have stopped for a drink from a spring that’s now known as Apostle Paul’s Holy water. Here’s how a nearby sign described a chapel which has been built nearby:

The Apostle Paul visited and taught in Thessaloniki and his two Epistles to the Thessalonians form the first two written texts of the New Testament. Until the early 1950s, the religious services of the residents of the Agios Pavlos settlment were performed in the small church of Agious Pavlos, which had been founded in 1920. The present church of St. Paul was built after a piece of land was granted by the Philoptochos Brotherhood of Men of Thessaloniki. In the area around the church, there is the Holy Water of the Apostle Paul.

After lunch at a restaurant along the sea, the afternoon was spent at Domaine Florian winery, where we heard an explanation of the intricacies of winemaking and had a wine-tasting of three wines: a white, a rosé, and a red. The view from the tasting room was truly spectacular, and the weather couldn’t have been more perfect — clear blue skies and temperatures in the low 70s.