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Just a few kilometres from Lydia, you will find Lasponera, a 'healing mud bath' which is said to help with joint and back pain. The mud bath is open until 17:00 in summer. Men and women bathe separately. Remember to bring a towel and old bathing clothes, as they will get dirty. Even if you are healthy, it is definitely worth a visit! As it is an open-air facility, the mud bath is only open from June to October. There is also a mixed-sex bath in an old Byzantine-Ottoman building which you can hire privately for half an hour. The water is rather cool, but it's the atmosphere that counts here.
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Every visitor of Philippi should also visit Lydia that is about 1 km to the north. At the entrance of the Baptistery of Lydia, there is a beautiful octagonal church with wonderful icons and mosaics and a cross-shaped baptismal font in a stream where adult baptisms are performed. Many Greeks have their children baptized in the chapel because of the special significance of the place for Christianity. In the creek that flows beside the chapel, the apostle Paul is said to have performed the first baptism on European soil, the rich Jewish merchant Lydia.
These ruins lie outside the fenced-in excavation area and are freely accessible.
Three-aisled basilica dates to about 550 AD. It has a narthex and appendages to the north and south (phiale, sacristy). The almost square aisle was covered by a vault supported by large pillars. A second vault covered the Holy Bema (closed space in Orthodox churches) .The basilica covers most of the previous Palaestra (No. 11), a humanistic Roman institution for physical and spiritual education. The Palaestra consisted of a central courtyard, rooms and a small amphitheatre.
Although it offers not really impressive objects such as Athens museums, it is still worth the visit. A small shop in the museum offers replicas of antique objects
A three-aisled basilica with the remains of luxurious marble inlays on the floor. Dated as no later than the 6th century
The Forum Romanum/Agora was the central place for political decisions, economic transactions, social interactions and religious ceremonies, making it the vibrant centre of public life. It was a complex of public buildings, arranged around a central open space. The most impressive buildings are the northeastern and the northwestern temples.