A Pilgrimage to Tarsus: A Spiritual and Practical Guide

To walk the streets of Tarsus is to stand at the beginning of a story that reshaped the world. This ancient city in the plain of Cilicia, in what is now southern Turkiye, was the birthplace of the Apostle Paul, the tireless missionary whose letters form so much of the New Testament. For Christians of every tradition, a journey here is more than sightseeing. It is a return to a source.

Why Tarsus draws the pilgrim

Paul himself named his home city with evident pride. Arrested in Jerusalem, he told the Roman commander, "I am a Jew, from Tarsus in Cilicia, a citizen of no ordinary city" (Acts 21:39). Before the crowd he described himself as one "brought up in this city at the feet of Gamaliel" (Acts 22:3), pointing to a devout upbringing steeped in the Law. He was born a Roman citizen, a status that would later shape his mission and his appeal to Caesar.

Tarsus was, in Paul's day, a celebrated centre of learning and commerce, a meeting place of Greek philosophy, Jewish faith and Roman order. It was here that the young man once called Saul was formed before the dramatic encounter near Damascus recounted in Acts 9 and reflected upon in his own words in Galatians 1. To come to Tarsus, then, is to visit the soil from which one of history's great apostles grew.

A pilgrimage here is not about grandeur. Much of the ancient city lies beneath the modern one, and the sites are quiet, unhurried places. That very modesty is part of their power. The pilgrim comes not to be impressed but to remember, to pray, and to be sent out again, as Paul was.

The key sites

Tarsus offers a small but meaningful circuit of places that anchor prayer and reflection.

• Saint Paul's Church (Saint Paul Kilisesi). A nineteenth-century stone church, now a museum and a focus of Christian visits, it stands as the natural gathering point for pilgrim groups who come to Tarsus. Its simple interior invites stillness and shared prayer.
• Saint Paul's Well. Near the traditional site associated with the apostle's family home, this ancient well still draws its cool water. Many pilgrims pause here in quiet devotion, a tangible link to the everyday world Paul knew.
• Cleopatra's Gate. The old gateway into the city, a surviving fragment of the walls through which travellers of the ancient world passed. It sets the scene for the Tarsus of Paul's own time.
• The ancient road and city remains. Sections of Roman-era paving and excavated streets help the visitor picture the busy provincial capital that formed the apostle.

To understand these places more fully, it helps to read a little before arriving. Our guides to Saint Paul's Church and Saint Paul's Well and to Cleopatra's Gate and the ancient city offer background that turns a walk into an act of remembrance.

Tarsus within a wider Cilician journey

Few pilgrims come to Tarsus alone. The city sits within a rich Christian landscape. The surrounding region of Cilicia, and the nearby Mediterranean coast around Mersin, carry their own early Christian memory, while the great city of Antioch, further along the road, was where the disciples were first called Christians (Acts 11:26). Many groups therefore weave Tarsus into a broader route through the region, tracing the world of the first-century Church. Our reflections on Mersin and Cilicia's early Christian heritage and on Antioch and the birth of the early Church set Tarsus in that fuller picture, part of the wider story of Christian pilgrimage in Anatolia.

Pilgrimage, not tourism

A pilgrimage and a holiday may visit the same places, yet they are not the same journey. The tourist asks what there is to see. The pilgrim asks what God might say. The difference lies not in the itinerary but in the heart.

A few simple practices help a group travel as pilgrims rather than merely as visitors:

• Prepare in prayer and reading. Before departure, spend time with the story of Paul, perhaps through the account of his missionary journeys or a short reading of the Pauline epistles. Arriving with Scripture already in mind deepens everything that follows.
• Keep sacred rhythm. Where a priest travels with the group, the celebration of Mass or of the Divine Liturgy at or near the holy sites gives the journey its centre. Times of silence, the Liturgy of the Hours, the Rosary or shared psalms mark the days as holy.
• Travel with reverence for the place and its people. Tarsus today is a living Turkish city with its own community and hospitality. Pilgrims are guests, and courtesy is itself a form of witness.
• Leave room for the interior journey. The outward road matters less than the inward one. A pilgrimage that changes nothing in the soul has missed its purpose.

Understood this way, a visit to Tarsus becomes a small Emmaus road, a walk in which hearts may burn as the Scriptures are opened.

How communities approach the journey

Parishes, movements, religious communities and student chaplaincies often travel together, and the shared dimension is a gift. A delegation carries its home community with it, and returns bearing something back. Group pilgrimages usually pair a spiritual leader, who shapes the prayer and catechesis, with practical organisers who handle the logistics on the ground, so that pilgrims are free to pray.

For those considering leading such a group, thoughtful preparation makes all the difference. Our guide to leading a church delegation to Tarsus gathers practical wisdom for clergy and lay leaders alike. Reading first about who the Apostle Paul was and where Tarsus lies will help any leader frame the journey for their people.

A gathering in the city of his birth

There is a particular grace in coming to Tarsus around the day the Church honours the apostle most fully. The 29th of June is the Solemnity of Saints Peter and Paul, the two great apostles remembered together, one the rock and the other the missionary to the nations. To keep that day in Paul's own birthplace is a rare and moving thing. You can read more about the meaning of the Solemnity of Saints Peter and Paul and about why Tarsus matters to the whole Church.

It is in this spirit that the inaugural St Paul Global Week will take place in Tarsus and Mersin from 28 to 30 June 2027, centred on the Solemnity and focused on the life, mission and legacy of the Apostle Paul in the city of his birth. The Feast Day programme will be broadcast live around the world, so that those who cannot travel may still share in the prayer. You are warmly welcome to explore the Feast of Saint Paul and the wider programme, and community and church leaders who wish to bring a group may learn about the Hosted Delegation Leaders programme. However you come to Tarsus, may the road lead you closer to the God who called Paul, and who calls still.