Kavala Old Town & Wine

This beautiful port city with Ottoman architecture was ancient Neapolis, where the Apostle Paul landed in Europe. The old town (Panagia) offers wine bars in historic buildings with harbor views. Local wines from Thrace and Macedonia pair with excellent seafood.

What to do there

3 things to do

1. 1 Find Oinioi Wine Bar by the Roman Aqueduct Wine · Price: moderate

   A wine bar with 100+ Greek wines positioned next to a 2,000-year-old aqueduct.

   You're sitting next to an aqueduct that has served this city continuously since its Roman construction, surrounded by 100+ labels of Greek wine from across the country - Xinomavro from Naoussa, Assyrtiko from Santorini and Mount Pangaio, Agiorgitiko from Nemea, Moschofilero from Mantinia. This is not a tourist wine bar. The Kamares aqueduct towering above you supplied the city that Paul landed in. This harbor - ancient Neapolis - was where the Apostle Paul first set foot in Europe in approximately AD 49, bringing Christianity to the continent. He was arrested in this city. He left anyway and kept going. The old town you're sitting in has been occupied by Byzantines, Franks, Venetians, and Ottomans. The wine bar is the most recent layer of history in this place. Oinioi wine bar is in the Panagia old town, next to the Kamares - the Byzantine/Ottoman aqueduct (navigate to the Kamares on all tourist maps and look for Oinioi immediately adjacent). Ask for the wine list ("ton katalogo krasíou, parakaló") and request something specifically from the Kavala region - Mount Pangaio Malagouzia is the local specialty. When it arrives, smell it before tasting: Malagouzia is extraordinarily aromatic (gardenia, peach blossom, citrus peel) in a way that no other Greek variety replicates.

   Backup: If Oinioi is closed (check hours before ascending the hill), any cafe or restaurant in the Panagia quarter will serve local wine - the tavernas in the narrow streets above the aqueduct all carry regional labels.

   Log Memory
2. 2 Climb to the Byzantine Citadel for the View Over the Wine Lands Adventure · Free

   The fortified hilltop shows why every empire fought to hold this harbor.

   From the citadel, you can see: to the west, the plain where Philip II built his gold-mining empire and renamed the city Philippi. To the northeast, the outline of Thasos island on the horizon - the island that wrote the world's first wine appellation laws in the 5th century BC, whose marble lined the Kasta Tomb at Amphipolis. Directly below: the harbor that Paul landed in. The citadel walls you're leaning against have been repaired by every empire that held this city - Byzantine brick, Frankish stonework, Venetian engineering, Ottoman mortar. Place your hand on the wall and you're touching 1,500 years of military history in one surface. The Byzantine citadel is at the highest point of the Panagia peninsula - continue upward through the old town streets past the wine bars and tavernas until the path becomes stone and the citadel walls appear. Make the climb at sunset if possible - the citadel faces west-northwest and the light over the wine plain toward Philippi is remarkable. Free entry, always open.

   Backup: If the upper citadel path is unclear, ask any local: "Pou einai to kastro?" ("Where is the castle?") - everyone in the old town will point you upward.

   Log Memory
3. 3 Ask the Taverna Owner About Paul's Landing - This Is Where Europe Changed History · Price: low

   The harbor you're looking at is where a persecuted tentmaker changed the course of Western civilization.

   In approximately AD 49 or 50, Paul of Tarsus arrived at the harbor below you - ancient Neapolis - on his second missionary journey. He had seen a vision of a man saying "Come over to Macedonia and help us." He brought Silas and possibly Luke. His first convert in Europe was Lydia of Thyatira - a dealer in purple cloth (purple dye was the most expensive commodity in the ancient world). Paul baptized her in the Zygaktis River outside Philippi, 15km from where you're eating. He was later arrested and beaten in that same city. He wrote his Letter to the Philippians from prison. The harbor below you is where European Christianity landed. In any of the small tavernas in the Panagia old town streets, during your meal, ask your server or taverna owner: "Kserate tin istoria tou Apostólou Pavlou edhó?" ("Do you know the story of Apostle Paul here?") Kavala is proud of this connection. The conversation that follows will often include stories you weren't expecting.

   Backup: The modern port's waterfront has a commemorative marker for Paul's landing if you prefer to find the historical connection independently.

   Log Memory

Insider tips

• The Panagia old town is enchanting

• Waterfront promenade for evening walk

• Try local Thracian wines

• The castle offers sunset views