Antakya (Antioch)

Antakya is a large city in the southeastern part of Turkey, just 12 miles from the border with Syria. Antakya is backed by the Altinozu Mountains, with the peak of Mt Silpius dominating the surrounding area. On the high mountain to the south are remnants of the long city walls and baldly ruined acropolis. The Asi (Orontes) River divides the town. The modern district is on the west bank, while the older Ottoman town lies on the east bank. Modern buildings to the west and older buildings and the commercial centre to the east characterize modern Antakya.

An average-looking city on first sight, beneath its feet Antakya keeps the silent remains of the ancient city of Antioch ad Orontes, founded by Seleucus I Nicator in 300 BC and once called "the fair crown of the Orient." In a very short time after its foundation, Antioch became a city of half a million people and its significance grew considerably. Persians, Byzantines, Arabs, Armenians, and Seljuks all fought over Antioch, as did the Crusaders and Saracens. In 1268 the Mamluks of Egypt took the city and wiped it out. Antioch never regained its former glory. Modern Antakya is hardly a beautiful place but its museum it one of Turkey’s finest. In the cave-church of St. Peter, Antakya can also lay claim to possessing the world’s first cathedral, there the apostle is said to have preached and where the term “Christian” was first used. St. Peter’s cave church is now believed to be the oldest church in the world. Antioch had also been the home of a large Jewish community since the city's founding in 300 BC. Throughout Antakya’s long history, violent earthquakes have shattered the town, most notably in 526 AD when around 250 000 people were killed. This explains why so little remains of the old city.