Agios Nikolaos Church - Apostle Paul’s Monument

Tripadvisor: #7 Attraction to the preferences of visitors of Kavala. 

The building of the Church of St. Nicholas was built around the middle of the 16th century and functioned as a mosque with the name Ibrahim Pasha, who was in 1530 vizier and son-in-law of Sultan Suleiman the Magnificent. It was the central mosque in the Old Town of Kavala, since due to its location it dominated the center of the market and was part of a general complex called Imaret, which consisted of public utility institutions (mosques, madrassas, poorhouses, inns, baths, shops). Its conversion to a church took place around 1926, and in 1945 it was inaugurated and named in the name of the patron saint of the seas, Agios Nikolaos.

 In the place where the church is located today and previously the mosque there was an early Christian Basilica, remnants of which are preserved and are in the Bema of Apostle Paul, and which was probably dedicated to St. Lazarus or the Apostle Paul. The architectural style is impressive for an Orthodox church, since it has kept the Islamic style externally, complemented of course by the existence of the bell tower at the base of the old minaret. The chapels of St. John Chrysostom and St. Demetriou, as well as the pronaos are later additions. Thus, the Church is considered to be triune. The right aisle is dedicated to Agios Dimitrios, the left aisle is dedicated to St. John Chrysostom and the central aisle is dedicated to Agios Nikolaos. 

In the surrounding area of the Church has been designated by the late Bishop of Philippi and later Archbishop of Athens and All Greece, Mr. Chrysostomos Chatzistavrou, the point where the founder of the local Church and Apostle of the Nations Paul disembarked after a vision, in which an unknown Macedonian man ordered him: "you pass to Macedonia help us". At this point, in 2000, the Apostolic Metropolis of Philippi, Neapolis and Thassos, under His Eminence Metropolitan Prokopios, has erected a monument in memory of the fact of the arrival of Apostle Paul and the spread of Christianity in the European Continent

Name: Agios Nikolaos Church -  Apostle Paul’s Monument

All areas and features related to performing religious acts (icons, furniture with candles, pray spaces, etc.) are always at the viewing zone and at the reach of wheelchair users too.

There is space for wheelchairs to be situated within the congregation.

The sanctuary is free of steps and accessible to wheelchair users.

It is possible for all to reach the area(s) where various services and tasks take place (e.g., such as for paperwork of various religious ceremonies, communion receivings, etc.).

Ιt possible for all to reach, enter and sit in the exisiitng confession canopy.

There is a sound system used.

There is good lighting to support those who lip read.

Note: Assistant dogs are not allowed.

There is no informational and/or religion-related material that is made available in alternative accessible formats.

There is a an outdoor area open to the public.