LISTRA (also spelled Lystra). — A city of Lycaonia, visited by Paul and Barnabas during their first missionary journey after escaping stoning in Iconium (q.v.). The instantaneous healing of a cripple from birth aroused great enthusiasm among the rough and uneducated populace, who were ready to recognize Paul as the god Hermes and Barnabas as Zeus, offering sacrifices, which the Apostle scornfully refused.
Regarded then as a dangerous magician, after a brief period of tolerance he was, in a popular uprising, stoned and left for dead, later being saved during the night by the faithful (Acts 14:6-21). On his second missionary journey, St. Paul, accompanied by Silas, stopped at L. and took with him, on the good testimony of the brethren, Timothy, a native of the city and converted during the first visit.
Later Paul would recall, along with the stoning, the pious care of Lois and Eunice, respectively grandmother and mother of Timothy (2 Tim 1:5). In the city, composed of a mixed population, no synagogue is recorded. Timothy’s mother was married to a Greek and the son was uncircumcised (Acts 15:1-4). It gained importance when Augustus founded a military garrison there against the bandits of the neighboring regions. Every trace of it was lost until 1886, when Sterrett rediscovered its ruins near the present-day village of Oatj Seraj, with an altar stone dedicated to Augustus by the decurions of the Roman colony.