Philippi sits twenty minutes inland from Kavala: a major Roman city with a theatre, forum and early Christian basilicas, where Paul preached and where the battle was fought.
Diagram by Greece Trips. Free to reuse with credit - CC BY 4.0.
Two histories on the same ground
That single sentence carries two entirely separate reasons to come, and most visitors arrive for one and discover the other.
The battle - fought here, and one of the decisive engagements of the late Roman republic.
Paul preached here, and the early Christian basilicas on the site are the physical consequence: this is where the earliest Christian communities in Europe take their story from.
The Roman city itself - the theatre, the forum - is the frame both sit inside.
What this page will not date for you
We give no founding year, no battle date and no basilica century. Our own guide names what is on the site and leaves the dating to the site’s own signage and to the museum, and site hours change - our guide flags that explicitly.
That is deliberate. A confidently wrong date on a site of this weight is worse than no date.
Kavala, and why it earns the two nights
Kavala itself is not a stopover. Our guide names:
- The archaeological museum, holding finds from Amphipolis and the region.
- The tobacco warehouses - large early-twentieth-century industrial buildings that were the city’s wealth; one holds a museum of tobacco.
- A working fishing harbour, and a waterfront the city uses in the evening.
- The Kamares, a two-tier arched aqueduct on a Roman line rebuilt in the sixteenth century, crossing the middle of the city.
The Panagia quarter is the old town on the headland.
What else Kavala is the base for
Thassos, by ferry from the quay or from Keramoti nearby - Thessaloniki to Thassos covers that crossing.
The Nestos delta, west: a wetland and river gorge.
Practical notes
Getting there: Kavala airport at Chrysoupoli serves the city and Thassos. Thessaloniki is about two hours by road.
Two nights, one of them for Philippi.
We print no site hours or ticket price. Our own guide flags that museum and site hours change.
Common questions
How long does Philippi need? Our guide allocates a night’s stay around it rather than an hour - treat it as a half day at least.
Is it far from Kavala? Twenty minutes inland.
What is the Kamares? The two-tier arched aqueduct crossing the middle of Kavala, on a Roman line and rebuilt in the sixteenth century.
Next
Our Kavala guide has the practicalities, things to do in Kavala covers the city, and where to stay covers the old town and the waterfront.