The lands of the Acts of the Apostles and the letters that followed. Paul preached at the Areopagus in Athens, spent eighteen months at Corinth, wrote to Thessalonica and Ephesus, and John was exiled to Patmos — and it is all still there to be walked, across the Aegean and its islands.

Athens and Corinth

Athens opens at the Acropolis and the Areopagus — Mars Hill, where Paul preached to the Athenians about the unknown god. Corinth follows, the ruins of the city he lived in longer than almost anywhere else, and where two of his greatest letters were addressed.

Ephesus and Thessaloniki

Across the water in Turkey, Ephesus is among the best-preserved ancient cities anywhere: the Library of Celsus, the theatre of Acts 19, and above the town the House of the Virgin Mary. Thessaloniki holds the Church of St Demetrius and the memory of the church Paul wrote to twice.

The islands

Crete brings the Church of St Titus and the Palace of Knossos; Santorini its caldera; Mykonos its windmills. The journey ends on Patmos at the Cave of the Apocalypse, where St John received the Book of Revelation.