Lystra, ancient city of Lycaonia, S Asia Minor, in present Turkey. The Acts of the Apostles reports that it was visited by Paul and Barnabas. An ancient altar found there mentioned the city and helped to identify the site.

Lystra was a city in what is now modern Turkey. It is mentioned six times in the New Testament of the Bible and was visited a few times by the Apostle Paul, along with Barnabas or Silas.

Location

Lystra is located south of Konya, a city previously known as Iconium. Lystra is situated north of the village of Hatunsaray (about 15km north of a small town called Akoren, 30km south of Konya). A small museum within the village of Hatunsaray displays artifacts from ancient Lystra.

Kilistra, an alternate site, has a GPS coordinate of North 37’ 40’ 0.4; East 32’ 12’ 49.2. This site has Cappodicia-like stone houses, and some church ruins hewn out of these rocks is located about 18km outside of the village.

History

The Roman Empire made Lystra a colony in 6 BC, possibly to gain better control of the tribes in the mountains to the west. Soon after, the Romans built a road connecting Lystra to Iconium in the north.

In Christian times Lystra had a bishop, and it is still a Roman Catholic titular see.

Biblical Occurrence

Paul preached the gospel in Lystra after he had been driven by persecution from Iconium. Here Paul healed a man lame from birth,. The man leaped up and began to walk and thus so impressed the crowd that they took him for Hermes, because he was the "chief speaker," and his companion Barnabas for Zeus. The crowd spoke in the local dialect and wanted to offer sacrifices to them, when Paul and Barnabas tore their clothes and shouted that they were merely men. They used this opportunity to tell the Lystrians of the Creator God. But soon, through the influence of the Jewish leaders from Antioch, Pisidia and Iconium, they stoned Paul and left him for dead. As the disciples gathered around him, Paul stood on his feet and went back into the town. The next day, he and Barnabas left for Derbe; but on the return part of their journey, they stopped once more at Lystra, encouraging the disciples there to steadfastness.

Paul visited this city again on his second missionary tour. Timothy, a young disciple there, was likely among those who on the previous occasion at Lystra witnessed Paul's persecution and courage. Timothy left Lystra to become the companion of Paul and Silas on rest of the Second Missionary Journey. It is also possible that Paul revisited Lystra near the beginning of his Third Missionary Journey.

Unlike other cities Paul visited, Lystra apparently had no synagogue, though Timothy and his mother and grandmother were Jewish . Perhaps for the first time in his missionary work, Paul was reaching Gentiles with the gospel of Christ without approaching them through the common ground of Judaism.

Footnotes

External references

• Easton's Bible Dictionary - Lystra
• Map of Asia Minor (modern Turkey) which shows Lystra in the province of Lycaonia
• Photos from Lystra