<P> Paphos was the capital of the island of Cyprus during the Roman years and seat of a Roman commander . In 45 AD, the apostles Paul and Barnabas (according to the Catholic Encyclopedia "a native of the island") came to Cyprus and reached Paphos preaching the Word of Christ, see also Acts 13: 4--13 . According to Acts, the apostles were persecuted by the Romans but eventually succeeded in convincing the Roman commander Sergius Paulus to renounce his old religion in favour of Christianity . Barnabas is traditionally identified as the founder of the Cypriot Orthodox Church . </P> <P> Damascus is the capital of Syria and claims to be the oldest continuously inhabited city in the world . According to the New Testament, the Apostle Paul was converted on the Road to Damascus . In the three accounts (Acts 9: 1--20, 22: 1--22, 26: 1--24), he is described as being led by those he was traveling with, blinded by the light, to Damascus where his sight was restored by a disciple called Ananias (who, according to the Catholic Encyclopedia, is thought to have been the first Bishop of Damascus) then he was baptized . </P> <P> Thessaloniki, the major northern Greek city where it is believed Christianity was founded by Paul, thus an Apostolic See, and the surrounding regions of Macedonia, Western and Eastern Thrace, and Epirus, which also extend into the neighboring Balkan states of Albania and Bulgaria, were early centers of Christianity . Of note are Paul's Epistles to the Thessalonians and to Philippi, which is often considered the first contact of Christianity with Europe . The Apostolic Father Polycarp wrote a letter to the Philippians, c. 125 . </P> <P> Nicopolis was a city in the Roman province of Epirus Vetus, today a ruin on the northern part of the western Greek coast . According to the Catholic Encyclopedia: "St. Paul intended going there (Titus 3: 12) and it is possible that even then it numbered some Christians among its population; Origen (c. 185--254) sojourned there for a while (Eusebius, Church History VI. 16)." </P>

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