In the footsteps of the Apostle Paul

According to the Acts of the Apostles (chapter 18), Paul stayed in Corinth for about a year and a half. He worked as a tentmaker with Aquila and Priscilla and preached in the city; this is where the church was founded to which he later wrote the two Letters to the Corinthians.

The route starts at Ancient Corinth. In the Roman Forum the city's Jewish community brought Paul before Gallio, proconsul of Achaia (Acts 18:12), who dismissed the charge. Tradition places the hearing at the Bema of the Forum. An inscription naming Gallio, found at Delphi, dates his term to around AD 51–52 — one of the firmest fixed points for dating Paul's life.

It then goes down to the city's two harbours. From Cenchreae (Kechries), on the Saronic Gulf, Paul sailed for Syria after he "had his hair cut off because of a vow" (Acts 18:18); in Romans (16:1) he commends Phoebe, "a deacon of the church in Cenchreae". Cenchreae and Ancient Corinth are included in the Greek Ministry of Culture's programme "In the Footsteps of the Apostle Paul".

The route ends at Isthmia, home of the Isthmian Games. Many scholars connect them with Paul's image of the runners and the victor's crown in 1 Corinthians (9:24-27).