12 Days
Specific Tour
30 people
English
DAY 1 Tuesday: Departure
Depart for your overnight flight to Greece. Meals will be served on board!
DAY 2 Wednesday: Athens
The trip will start with your arrival in Athens airport where we will meet and transfer you to your hotel. Rest of the day at leisure, dinner and overnight in Athens.
DAY 3 Thursday: Athens City Tour
After breakfast we will go on a city tour where we will visit the main points of interest in the city: Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, the Royal Palace, Pan-Athenian Stadium, the Temple of Olympian Zeus and visit the world famous Acropolis, with its new Museum as well as Monastiraki (the Old Flea Market) and Mars’ Hill (Areopagus) where Paul preached the truth to the Gentile Nation. The tour will continue on a walk around the historical churches found in Athens. We start from what is known to Athenians as the Russian Church, the Holy Church of Lykodemos Sotira is one of the oldest and largest Byzantine churches in Athens. The next stop will be located on Monastiraki Square, the Church of the Dormition of the Virgin Mary, or Pantanassa, was once called the Great Monastery, and today is known commonly as Monastiraki. Kapnikarea Church will be the final stop and it stands out as a major landmark in Athens’ Byzantine past. The rest of the day is at leisure. Dinner and Overnight in Athens.
DAY 4 Friday: Athens / Piraeus (Embarkation) / Mykonos
Embark on a wonderful 3-night cruise to the Greek Islands and Turkey. Breakfast, lunch and dinner are served daily while on board. Mykonos, the whitewashed jewel of the Cyclades Islands, is your first stop. This charming, mountainous island is known for the hundreds of tiny chapels, white-washed buildings and beautiful windmills that dot its landscape. Enjoy free time to explore this little paradise in the middle of the Aegean Sea.
DAY 5 Saturday: Kusadasi / Ephesus / Patmos
Breakfast and stop at the Turkish port of Kusadasi for an included excursion to the ruins of Ephesus where Paul the Saint spent three years during his ministry and where its inhabitants were the recipients of Paul’s famous epistle. Ancient Ephesus was the Roman capital of Asia Minor and an important center for Christianity from AD 50s.
Continue your cruise to the island of Patmos, where in 95 AD, St. John the Theologian – one of the twelve disciples of Jesus – was sent into exile. St. John remained on the island for eighteen months during which time he lived in a cave below the hilltop temple of Diana. During his time in the sacred cave, now known as the Holy Grotto of the Revelation, St. John also composed the Fourth Gospel. During our time there we will visit the Monastery of St. John the Theologian UNESCO World Heritage Site where we will see the Holy Grotto as well as priceless icons and manuscripts. Afterwards, drive back to the port of Scala and enjoy some free time in this quaint and picturesque harbor.
DAY 6 Sunday: Heraklion (Crete) / Santorini
In the morning the ship will dock at the port of Heraklion on the island of Crete. In Heraklion Paul met the owner and captain of the ship, who warned him about continuing his journey to Rome. You can take a tour (optional) to the Palace of Knossos, the center of the Minoan civilization. After lunch, the ship will travel to the most beautiful island in the Aegean Sea known as the “Black Pearl of the Aegean”, the volcanic Santorini where we will enjoy the breathtaking Panoramic View. Latest excavations have suggested that Santorini might be the lost sight of Atlantis.
DAY 7 Monday: Piraeus (Disembarkation) / Corinth / Athens
After early morning disembarkation, we will travel to Ancient Corinth, a city blessed with a superb location, fertile plains, and a virtually impregnable refuge. It is likely that Paul visited Corinth at least twice on his missionary journeys. Our tour of today includes a stop at a nearby Winery and enjoy Organic fine wine tasting. The rest of the day is at leisure. Dinner and Overnight in Athens.
Day 8: Tuesday Athens / Kalambaka / Meteora
After breakfast the trip continues to the Monastary of Hosios Loukas, fgounded around the mid – 10th century AD by the monk Loukas from Styri, the monastery showcases his relics in the Katholicon (main church). Dinner and Overnight in Kalambaka.
Day 9: Wednesday Kalambaka/Meteora / Vergina / Veria / Thessaloniki
After breakfast the trip continues with a visit the spectacular Meteora, the UNESCO World Heritage Site, which is a mountainous region of stunning scenery. You will see hundred-year-old Byzantine monasteries on top of huge rocks, during the Middle Ages, first built in the 14th century by monks seeking isolation and salvation. We will visit the most famous of them, which is now a popular museum, the Great Meteoron, to admire superb icons, old manuscripts, unique mosaics and frescoes. Continue to the Royal Tombs of Vergina (Land of Alexander the Great). The tour includes a visit of the newly completed exhibition displaying discoveries from all 3 Tombs, one of them famous as the Tomb of King Philip the II, Father of Alexander the Great. Next stop will be Veria (Berea), another town evangelized by Paul (Acts 17.10-14). When Saint Paul visited this town in AD50, he came across a more “noble” Jewish community where he preached and created an important Church. Continue our drive to Thessaloniki. Overnight hotel Capsis or similar.
DAY 10 Thursday: Thessalonica / Philippi / Kavala / Thessalonica
After breakfast we depart for Philippi. This is the town where Paul delivered his first sermon in Europe, sowing the seeds of Christianity. Paul arrived here with Silas and Luke on the winter of AD 49 to AD50. There the first Christian baptism was performed, of a woman named Lydia. We will visit the Roman Theatre, probable site of the prison where Paul and Silas were arrested. We will continue towards the city of Kavala and the ancient city of Neapolis (Acts 16:11) where Paul landed with his disciples, Timothy and Silas. It was later renamed Christoupolis, meaning city of God, because it was the first European city to accept Christianity. We will visit the Roman Aqueduct and the ruins of the Acropolis. Dinner and overnight in Thessalonica.
Day 11 Friday: Thessaloniki
Thessaloniki, Greece’s second largest city. Paul visited and preached the Gospel in Thessaloniki on his second (Acts 17:1-9) and likely on his third missionary journeys and sent two letters to the early Christians there. We start our excursion of the city viewing the White Tower, an historical landmark before continuing on to visit the Archaeological Museum which houses interesting finds from the Archaic, Classical and Roman periods, with findings of the Sindos area and a stunning exhibition of golden jewels. Stop for a typical Greek lunch. Make your way up to the Acropolis, located in the upper part of the city. It is here, where you will have a superb panoramic view of the entire city with the Thermaic Gulf and Mount Olympus in the background.
Further visit of St. Demetrios Basilica which was erected in the 5th century AD.
The tour will end passing by the well-preserved Byzantine Basilica of St. Sophia, an 8th Century structure, rich in mosaics and frescoes. Overnight hotel Capsis or similar.
DAY 12 Saturday: Thessaloniki Airport
According to the schedule of your return flight you will be taken to the airport of Thessaloniki.
