Whatever Happened to the Apostle Philip? by Chris White

Just as there is a tomb in Ephesus for John, in the nearby resort city of Hieropolis in modern Turkey there is a tomb for Philip.  By all indications in scripture, Philip was a close friend of the Apostle John.  This might account for why they lived and died in close proximity to one another.  Hieropolis was a huge health resort town with mineral springs which attracted both the ancients and people of today as visitors.  It would have been a strategic spot to spread the gospel of Christ.  Church tradition has it that Philip was martyred for his faith by being hung from large hooks.  Another tradition states that he and his daughters were all clubbed to death in the same city.  In 560 AD, Pope John III had his body removed from its tomb in Turkey and placed in a Church in Rome.  In Hieropolis (the sacred city) today there are the remains of a great church built in the shape of an eight point star that once stood over the site of Philip’s martyrdom.