Acts 13:14

‘But they, passing through from Perga, came to Antioch of Pisidia, and they went into the synagogue on the sabbath day, and sat down.'

So the party, minus Mark, did not remain in Perga but moved on the hundred miles to Pisidian Antioch. Pisidian Antioch was actually in Phrygia, but was generally known as Pisidian Antioch because it was on the borders of Pisidia. No hint is given of the difficult and dangerous road travelled, and if Paul was suffering from malaria it must have made it ten times harder. The grit that enabled him to endure it was part of the same temperament that had possibly put off John Mark.

Once they had arrived they waited for the Sabbath day (the plural is simply intensive) and then made their way to the synagogue. This became Paul's standard strategy, Athens being the exception that proved the rule. In the synagogues could always be found men versed in the Scriptures and hopefully ready to receive God's message. But should they prove intractable and reject God's message, he then had no compunction against going elsewhere and preaching to Gentiles outside the synagogues. (Had they preached to the Greeks first they would have found no welcome in the synagogues).

The synagogue service would commence with the recitation of the Shema (Deuteronomy 6:4), followed by synagogue prayers, which might include ‘the eighteen benedictions', and a blessing. There would also be a reading from the Law, which followed a pattern covering the whole Law in three years, followed by a reading from the prophets, often selected by the visiting speaker (although not in this case), and a message could then be delivered by someone invited to speak by the synagogue ruler(s) (compare Luke 4:16).