My friend Bernard Vassallo (‘St Paul’s journey to Rome on three ships, calling at six ports’, The Sunday Times of Malta, November 15, 2015) listed six ports used by St Paul on his way to Rome.

However, the Acts of the Apostles say that after they left Malta and Syracuse, and before a south wind conveys them to Pozzuoli, they also ‘arrived’ in Reggio, Calabria, which Vassallo omitted.

Some weeks ago I was in Reggio and found out that its cathedral sports an inscription which claims that it was founded by the apostle Paul in AD58. The people even claim that Reggio was the first Christian convert locality on mainland Italy.

They probably have their ‘doubting Wettingers’ on both points, while also getting their date wrong. However, it is also worth noting that today’s port of Reggio Calabria is an artificially enhanced one of rather recent construction, while in ancient Roman times the port, called Columna Rhegina, was already not far from the current one.

Sign up to our free newsletters

Get the best updates straight to your inbox:
Please select at least one mailing list.

You can unsubscribe at any time by clicking the link in the footer of our emails. We use Mailchimp as our marketing platform. By subscribing, you acknowledge that your information will be transferred to Mailchimp for processing.