Patmos

Location

Patmos is a small, rocky Greek island in the eastern Aegean, about thirty-seven miles off the coast of Asia Minor (modern Turkey), north-west of Ephesus. About twenty-two square miles in area, its highest point rises to 883 feet. It has been continuously inhabited since antiquity and has been an important site of Christian pilgrimage since the fourth century.

Biblical importance

Patmos is named exactly once in Scripture — Revelation 1:9 — where John identifies himself as the one who 'was in the isle that is called Patmos, for the word of God, and for the testimony of Jesus Christ.' The whole Book of Revelation is set on and issues from this island. Christian tradition (Irenaeus, Against Heresies V.30.3) locates his exile under the emperor Domitian, c. AD 95.

Historical timeline

• c. AD 95 (traditional) — John the Evangelist is exiled to Patmos under Domitian. Receives the Revelation.
• c. AD 98 — After Domitian's death, John returns to Ephesus.
• Fourth century — Christian pilgrimage to Patmos begins.
• AD 1088 — The Monastery of St John the Theologian is founded on the highest point of the island by St Christodoulos.
• Present — The traditional Cave of the Apocalypse is preserved as a pilgrimage church on the slope beneath the monastery.

Important biblical events

• Revelation 1:9-10 (KJV) 'I John, who also am your brother, and companion in tribulation, and in the kingdom and patience of Jesus Christ, was in the isle that is called Patmos, for the word of God, and for the testimony of Jesus Christ. I was in the Spirit on the Lord's day, and heard behind me a great voice, as of a trumpet…'
• Revelation 1:12-18 (KJV) The vision of the risen Christ: 'his head and his hairs were white like wool, as white as snow; and his eyes were as a flame of fire; And his feet like unto fine brass…'
• Revelation 4-5 (KJV) The throne of God and the Lamb.
• Revelation 21 (KJV) The new heaven and the new earth.
• Revelation 22:20 (KJV) 'He which testifieth these things saith, Surely I come quickly. Amen. Even so, come, Lord Jesus.'

Related People

• John the Evangelist — the visionary of Patmos.
• Christ Jesus — who appeared in glory to him here.
• Domitian — the Roman emperor whose persecution brought John to the island.
• St Christodoulos — the eleventh-century Byzantine monk who founded the monastery.

Connected Places

• Ephesus — the city John left for exile and returned to.
• The seven churches of Asia Minor (Revelation 2-3) — Ephesus, Smyrna, Pergamos, Thyatira, Sardis, Philadelphia, Laodicea — the addressees of the Revelation.

Christian tradition

• The Monastery of St John the Theologian (1088) is a UNESCO World Heritage Site and one of the great libraries of the Christian East.
• The Cave of the Apocalypse is preserved as a small pilgrimage chapel.
• In Christian iconography, the island of Patmos is often shown with John writing on a hillside as Christ appears in a cloud.
• The Book of Revelation is read at the Christian year's climax (the final Sundays of Ordinary Time and at Easter Vigil).

Household reflection

Patmos teaches the household that God can turn even exile into a place of vision. John was banished; he saw heaven. What looks like your worst hardship may be your Patmos.

Read the last chapter of the Bible (Revelation 22) with the little ones at family bedtime. The last two words of the Book of Revelation — and of the whole Bible — are 'Amen. Even so, come, Lord Jesus.' Teach them to know how the Bible ends.

Room connections

Where this entry meets the household in the wider house of CrossAIHub.

• Read (Library) — Read Revelation 1 aloud on a Sunday — 'the Lord's day' of Revelation 1:10.
• Pray (Chapel) — Pray the last verse of the Bible each night: 'Even so, come, Lord Jesus.'
• Family (Kitchen Table) — On St John's feast (27 December), read Revelation 21-22 aloud.
• Sing (Choir Room) — Sing 'Holy, Holy, Holy' (Reginald Heber, 1826) — drawn from Revelation 4:8.
• Learn (Workshop) — Study the seven letters to the seven churches (Revelation 2-3).

Further reading

The Book of Revelation in the KJV.

Irenaeus, Against Heresies V.30.3 (late second century).

The Monastery of St John the Theologian archives and library (UNESCO).

Elsewhere in the Atlas

• John the Evangelist
• Ephesus
• Christ Jesus
• Revelation 21 — the vision written here
• Return to the atrium — the Atlas's main room.