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A number of Sicilian towns have claimed that they were paid a visit by St Paul after he left Malta but it is difficult to verify this. Our only written source is the Bible, which says that after Malta St Paul and St Luke landed in Sicily and stayed there forSolarino – Sicilian city linked to St Paul
A number of Sicilian towns have claimed that they were paid a visit by St Paul after he left Malta but it is difficult to verify this. Our only written source is the Bible, which says that after Malta St Paul and St Luke landed in Sicily and stayed there for three days. The saint’s stay in Malta has always fascinated me but very little information is given from there onwards. Maybe Luke and Paul went their own ways from Syracuse onwards? Whatever happened, it is difficult to understand how Sicily, such an important part of the Empire, is dismissed in just three days. In any case, tradition tells us that St Paul visited Palazzolo Acreide (the old Akrai), a very important centre at the time, and Solarino. (There are other claims). These traditions are very strong and remembered with great pomp each year. The visit to Solarino is mainly linked with the presence of an old well, which is a place of pilgrimage. Up to Fascist times, the official name of the city was San Paolo Solarino, but the reference to St Paul was removed. (Some today want to reinstate the name.) It is only about 17 kilometres from Syracuse, so it is possible that St Paul visited during his three-day stay there. Read more