Salamis

Salamis was a major port on the eastern coast of Cyprus. Around 46 C.E., Paul, Barnabas, and Mark sailed there from Syrian Antioch at the start of Paul’s first missionary journey and proclaimed the word of God in the Jewish synagogues. It was a key early stop in the spread of the good news beyond Judea.

Salamis stood on the eastern shore of Cyprus, facing the sea lanes between Syria and Asia Minor. With its fine harbor and proximity to the island’s copper mines, it was one of the oldest and wealthiest Hellenistic cities in the eastern Mediterranean.Acts records that, under the leading of the holy spirit, the congregation in Antioch sent out Barnabas and Saul (Paul), who took along John Mark. Sailing from Seleucia, they landed on Cyprus and “when they arrived in Salamis, they began proclaiming the word of God in the Jewish synagogues.” (Acts 13:5) This is the first clear account of Paul preaching on a Gentile island, marking the real beginning of his first missionary journey. They began in the synagogues because Jewish communities scattered abroad gathered there, and the good news was “to the Jew first.”The choice of Cyprus was especially fitting, since Barnabas himself was a Cypriot. (Acts 4:36) From Salamis the team crossed the whole island to Paphos in the west, where the proconsul Sergius Paulus believed despite the opposition of the sorcerer Elymas. Later Mark turned back to Jerusalem, which eventually led to a disagreement between Paul and Barnabas. Church tradition holds that Barnabas later returned to his native Cyprus and was finally martyred at Salamis; an ancient monastery near the ruins still commemorates him.Excavations at Salamis have uncovered a grand colonnaded street, a theater, a gymnasium, public baths, and several Byzantine basilicas, testifying to the city’s continuous prosperity from Hellenistic and Roman times into the early Christian era. Today the ruins lie along the coast north of Famagusta, recalling the moment the good news first crossed the sea to the island.