There are many sites in Greece that are associated with a visit by St Paul. He visited many of the major cities and some more than once. This was very natural of course when one remembers the importance of Greece at the time. In these sites there are many places that have a particular link with these visits. One such small place is the city of Veria which is proud of the fact that St Paul preached there.

St Paul visited Veria (then known as Berea) during his Second Journey. The city is around 70 kilometres from Thessaloniki and in fact Paul accompanied by Silas went there after a visit to Thessaloniki.

Veria was an important city at the time mainly due to its geographic position. It stands in the foothills of Mount Vermio. It is crossed by the River Tripotamos, a tributary of the Aliacmon and the numerous small waterfalls contributed to the industrial importance of the city (as is the same today). It was an important city in antiquity and archaeologists found artefacts even from the Neolithic age. In later years it became an important religious centre of Macedonia and today 48 churches, some of which are very small, have survived. There were many more. Most of these churches are from the Byzantine period and contain beautiful icons and other artefacts. The Museum, though small, is extremely important, and was renovated with European funding only recently.

The strong Christian presence in the city no doubt has its origins in the visit of Paul. On arriving in the city Paul and Silas went immediately to the Jewish synagogue. There they found Timothy waiting for them, having arrived earlier from Philippi. Paul must have made an immediate impact on the Jews and non-Jews who were in the city. The Acts of the Apostles record in chapter 17 that "The Jews here were more fair-minded than those at Thessalonica: They received the message with great eagerness, studying the Scriptures every day to see whether it was true. Many of them therefore became believers, and so did a fair number of gentiles, women of standing as well as men."

Local tradition holds that he preached in the city from a small hill. Of course we are not certain if this is true or not as there is no archaeological proof of this but the tradition is very strong in Veira. A small shrine, known as the Altar of St Paul, was erected in this spot. There many religious ceremonies are still held. The Ottomans built a Mosque immediately next to this spot.

We do not know how long he stayed in Veria but we do know that his success in this small but important city led to a reaction from the Jews of Thessaloniki who "followed him there to stir up trouble and rouse the rabble". Paul decided to leave the city but left his two companions, Silas and Timothy, to continue his work in the city.