Neapolis (Kavalla) Acts 16:11
Following the vision of the Macedonian man St. Paul received at
Troas, he journeyed to Neapolis (by way of the island of Samothrace).
Of the "abundance of Revelations" St. Paul had received, we are only
privy to three in significant detail: the vision into Heaven with
words he "could not utter", the Macedonian man vision at Troas and
the vision of the Risen Savior on the Damascus road.
It may be that Luke joins St. Paul here at Neapolis, since the
pronouns in the Book of Acts change from "them" to "we", suggesting
the writer's personal presence in the events until Philippi. The
two-day journey from Troas to Neapolis on the second journey
suggests the weather was good. The same journey took five days in
less cooperative weather for the friends of St. Paul that were
coming to see him in Troas from Philippi's port, which is Neapolis
(cp. Acts 20:6).
Set against the slopes of Mt. Simvolo, the city of Kavalla appears
as a great amphitheatre surrounding a concave harbor. The streets of
the city rise up from the harbor into the mountainside. Though a
city of more than one hundred thousand people, the place has a
village feel. An important trade route of antiquity, this city still
enjoys the prosperity as the center of a lucrative tobacco trade,
and is set along a major east - west traffic route less than two
hundred kilometers (170) from Thessaloniki. In the Roman period, the
city acted as a port for the important Roman garrison at Philippi
about fifteen kilometers away.
The history of the region is thought by local archaeologists to
extend back to the Neolit
hic
period. Nearby emergency excavations have revealed traces of a
string of tiny ancient villages that appeared in the Classical
Period (500-336 BCE). The city of Kavalla's history is best
illustrated through a series of name changes over the centuries.
The oldest village was established between 3000 BCE and 500 BCE as a
natural seaport, though scholars are uncertain of its ancient name.
After 300 BCE, the village was rebuilt and referred to as "Neo-Porticus"
perhaps due to some large stoas built as warehouses at the port. At
least one source suggests that Philip II and his son Alexander the
Great allowed the city become an "asylum" home for those who worked
the Mt. Pangeo gold mines.
Roman control was extended to the city by 168 BCE. Before the Battle
of Philippi in 42 BCE, the city was the station of Brutus and Casius.
The primary purpose of the Roman city was to act as a port for the
nearby garrison at Philippi, accessible only by a steep climb from
the port over the western spur of Mt. Simvolo. After their defeat by
Marc Antony and Octavian, the city was renamed "Neapolis" (new city)
and held that name at the time of St. Paul's visit (Acts 16).
As a result of the message of Christianity taking hold in the
region, the church grew in strength, and under the Byzantines the
seat of the Bishop of Philippi was established there, with yet
another name change to "Christopolis" (350 CE). References to the
city throughout the period of Byzantine control refer to the city
this way. Even the Crusaders (Franks) called the port "Christople".
With the rise of Ottoman control, the fourteenth century Ottomans
renamed the port Cavallo, a vulgarization of Latin word "horse",
perhaps because of use in postal service of Ottoman
postal
system. Some have suggested the name originally came from the shape
of the peninsula in the place of the Old City. By the sixteenth
century, the city had an essential role, as the flow of postal
information to the Balkan holdings of the Ottomans was dependent on
the key cities of the route. Sultan Sulieman "the Magnificent" added
stability to the city by providing the impressive aqueduct that
carried water from springs on the upper slope of Simvolo to the
walled peninsula.
Inside the walled village of the Cavallo of the Ottoman Empire
Muhammad Ali (1769-1849) was born. Ali was the Egyptian ruler of
peasant revolt of 1805. As a result of the revolt, Muhammad Ali
eventually broke with the Ottomans and established the last dynasty
on the Egyptian throne that ended with King Fuad in 1953 (with the
rise of Nasser).
Because of its position, the city bore the brunt of Greek - Turkish
wars as the Ottoman Empire collapsed and the Balkans plunged into
war at the time of the First World War. The town was occupied by
Bulgarians, and eventually fell to German control by 1941. It was
not until after World War II that the port was returned to Greece in
late 1944. It now serves as the principal port for the export of
tobacco, wheat, textiles and sugar beets. Its trading center is
considered one of the most important for the continued strong
economy of the Macedonia and Thrace regions.
The city has several important churches that attract visitors: the
Church of St. Paul (established 1928); and the Church of St.
Nicholas (formerly a church of St. Paul), which was converted to
mosque under Ottoman occupation. All the churches had the desire to
recall the "initiation of Christendom in Europe" in St. Paul's
Second Journey.
Beyond the churches, other historical sites of interest include: the
"Old Quarter" named
Panayia,
after the Virgin Mary Church that once stood in the district on the
peninsula area in the east of city. The fortress is from the early
Paleologian Byzantine revival 13th CE. The former "Imaret" is one of
the largest Muslim buildings in Europe (Kowa, "Bistro!"). Other
important Ottoman buildings include the "House of Muhammed Ali" and
the Kameres Aqueduct, built by Sulieman.
PLACE
REFERENCE
Amphipolis
Acts 17:1
Apollonia
Acts 17:1
Athens
Acts 17:15-16, 22; 18:1; 1 Thessalonians 3:1
Berea
Acts 17:10, 13: 20:4
Cenchrea
Acts 18:18, Romans 16:1
Coos (Kos)
Acts 21:1
Corinth
Acts 18:1; 19:1; 1 Corinthians 1:2; 2 Corinthians 1:1, 23; 2 Timothy
4:20
Cyprus
Acts 4:38; 11:19,20; 13:4; 15:39; 21:3,16; 27:4
Neapolis (Kavala) Acts 16:11
Patmos
Rev 1:9
Philippi Matthew 16:13; Mark 8:27; Acts 16:12, 22;
20:6; Philippians 1-4; 1 Thessalonians 2:2
Rhodes
Act 21:1
Thessalonica Acts
17:1. 11. 13; 27:2; Philippians 4:16: 1 and 2 Thessalonians; 2
Timothy 4:10