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Place New Testament

Apollonia

Apollonia, a city in Macedonia through which Paul passed on his way to Thessalonica. Mentioned once in Scripture, at Acts 17:1.

Why it matters. A city in Macedonia visited by Paul.

Primary passages
Location
40.588, 23.353 (approximate, within about 2 km)

Coordinates from STEPBible TIPNR (palopenmaps.org link). Approximate; not independently verified.

Last reviewed
2026-08-30 by the FaithGraph team

About Apollonia

Apollonia was a city in the region of Macedonia, located along the Via Egnatia, the main Roman road connecting the Adriatic Sea with the Hellespont. It is mentioned in Act.17.1 as one of the cities through which Paul and his companions passed on their way from Philippi to Thessalonica during Paul's second missionary journey.

The text does not provide any details about Paul's activities or the duration of his stay in Apollonia. It simply states that they passed through Amphipolis and Apollonia before arriving in Thessalonica. This suggests that Apollonia was a transit point along the route, and Paul's primary focus was on reaching Thessalonica, where he spent significant time preaching and establishing a church.

Apollonia was situated about 30 miles (48 km) southwest of Amphipolis and about 37 miles (60 km) northeast of Thessalonica. The city was named after the Greek god Apollo and was known for its strategic location and commercial importance.

The mention of Apollonia in the context of Paul's journey highlights the apostle's systematic approach to evangelizing major cities and his use of the well-established Roman road system to facilitate his travel and the spread of the gospel.

Description from STEPBible TIPNR (Tyndale House, Cambridge), CC BY 4.0, lightly reformatted. This is background reference material, not Scripture and not a FaithGraph editorial claim.

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Appears in Scripture

Named in 1 verse across 1 book. Occurrence data from STEPBible TIPNR (CC BY 4.0); references only, no translation text.

Record type: Place. FaithGraph explanations on this page are editorial and are not Scripture.