Images of Antiquity: Philippi, Pt. 12

It has been a while since I've done an entry for the "Images of Antiquity" series on Pisteuomen but this one's been sitting in draft mode for about 5 or 6 months, so, I thought I'd go ahead and publish it. I took the photos in the slideshow above while visiting ancient Philippi.

The first photo was taken very early in the morning. It was freezing outside but it was so beautiful. Legend has it that this is where Paul baptized Lydia, the dealer of purple clothes. In all actuality, she was probably not baptized at this exact spot but it isn't a huge deal as she was baptized somewhere within the vicinity. As you can see in the picture, there is a "cross-shaped" cut-out etched into the small creek. The steam rising off of the water made for a beautiful picture.

In the second picture you see the new Church that has been built in honor of St. Lydia. The sanctuary is magnificent as it has stained-glass windows of biblical characters, a painted dome ceiling of Jesus' baptism and a circular seating arrangement.

In the third photo you see ancient Philippi and some of her ruins. Off to the right of the picture, atop the hill, you can still see Philip's fortress. If you look to the bottom of the picture you can see a Latin inscription that speaks of Philip, ruler of the Province of Macedonia. At the very back of the picture, which you can not really see here, is the place where Paul is believed to have been jailed while in Philippi. In fact, to the left of the picture, near the erected columns is where Paul was dragged down the streets and beaten.

Photo four is of the theater in Philippi. It is well maintained and has been renovated to a good degree. By the time you travel through Turkey and get to Philippi in Greece, once you've seen a few theaters you feel like you've seen them all. In the last picture there is a pedestal that speaks of the Pythian Cult. Of course, in Acts 16, we have mentions of the "slave girl" who was saying that Jesus was "a" way of salvation. This hacked Paul off and he ranted against her, which led to some trouble (arrest). The "slave girl" was actually part of the Pythian Cult. Indeed, Acts 16.16 refers to her with the term "πυθωνα". In the pedestal, you can see the related term in the 5th line down (the 2nd word in that line). The Pythian Cult was prominenet all over Greece, especially in Delphi.