Greek Isle Cruise

Mykanos, Ephesus, Patmos, Santorini

We didn’t learn so until later, but the Apostle Paul likely met his unfortunate demise in an accident at sea. It was probably good many of us were not aware of that as we boarded the Celestyal Discovery cruise ship on a blustery day at a port near Athens.

Waves tossed sea foam over the walls of the pier as we traversed the narrow dock that led us to our boat. Our crew of 46 was among 1,500 passengers that enjoyed entertainment, fine dining and the warm melodies played by our very own Ernie Kranias performed in the margarita bar on the ship’s ninth of 11 floors.

Our historic trip through the Greek isles with a stop at Mykanos, an island with lily white buildings that had originally been whitewashed as a precautionary measure after a plague long ago. The look stuck, and our crew journeyed to see several historic churches in the area.

While Paul would have visted Mykanos, our true immersion into his world began the next day with a walk down a 2,300 year-old road in the ancient city of Ephesus in Turkey.

Turkey is considered the second Holy Land, at least according to our guide. More than 30 of the country’s cities are named in the Bible and it is the home of Noah’s ark and Abraham’s birthplace.

So, even if he hadn’t had a vision of visiting Ephesus, it makes perfect sense that the Apostle Paul would have spent plenty of time in the country. Ephesus was a 140-acre city of roughly 250,000 people in the time of Paul. Made of 90 percent marble, it was the converging point of three major trade routes and drew lots of people. Paul targeted cities such as this, knowing that many of the people who gathered there would travel home telling the stories they heard.

But Paul’s journey would have been dangerous. When Paul said that men were not to worship man-made idols, he was thought to be blaspheming Hellenistic Gods, such as the city’s patron god, Artemis, an act which drew a punishment of death if convicted.

Paul was welcomed to the city as a tentmaker and likely would have set up shop in the city. Pastor Andrew got an opportunity to pray and speak the word of God from the same marketplace that Paul would have worked to convert many people to Christianity. It was also the town in which he wrote the Epistle of Corinthians I.

In the evening of our third day in Greece, we traveled to Patmos to see the 2,000-year-old sacred cave, that would have briefly served as a prison cell and eventually a spiritual place for St. John, best known for penning the book of Revelation. It is for this reason the cave is now called The Holy Grotto of the Revelation. Orthodox Greeks also believe he was a disciple of Jesus, who also wrote the book of John but that is disputed in scholarly circles.

Our third day on the islands took us to Rhodes, where Paul would’ve likely spent a little time, but not much that was memorable. The island is best known as the home of Helios, the sun god, but he was not present on the windy, rainy day. The largest island in the Greek Isles is known for its lawfulness, our guide said, with only 30 to 40 burglaries annually.

During our time there we traveled to an ancient Greek Acropolis, meaning highest point of a city, in the region of Lindos, which was later converted into a fort by the Knights of St. John the Baptist. They were warrior monks that came from noble families, mostly speaking in French and writing in Latin.

On the ride back to the boat, we learned about one of the ancient wonders of the world, The Colossus of Rhodes. The 105-foot bronze statue was meant to honor Helios, but it collapsed into the sea in 216 BC. The Oracle of Delphi said not to resurrect the statue, as it likely offended the Gods. Instead its pieces were transferred to another part of the city for worship purposes until the area was overthrown in 653 AD. The pieces were likely sold, traded or melted down for use in other things, our guide told us.

We returned to the Medieval City in Rhodes, also built by the the Knights of St. John the Baptist, where we were allowed to explore buildings that were between 700 and 1,400 years old.

The final day of our cruise featured a stop in Crete, where Paul would have been warned about his threat to Rome. We later visited the blue-domed island of Santorini, the marvel of the Greek Isles.

In our next entry, I’ll get into the city of Corinth and the Oracle of Delphi! We hope and pray everyone at home is having a wonderful time while we are away!