Antakya (Antioch)

Sea nymph mosic, Antakya (Hatay) Arch. Mus.

The city of Antakya, called Antioch in former times, lies on the Mediterranean coast of Turkey near the Syrian border. Established about 300 BCE by Seleucus I Nicator, the city became the capital of the Seleucid Empire and occupied an important position on the Silk Road. Antioch-al-Oronte was the capital of the Roman imperial province of Syria. With its population of about half a million, this city was next in importance to Rome and Alexandria.

The city included a large Jewish population, and St. Peter and St. Paul of the Christian gospels also preached here. Later it flourished under Byzantine culture, until a severe earthquake in the 500s killed 200,000 and nearly destroyed the city (History of Antakya).

Much contested, it was taken over next by Persians, then Arabs, then Seljuk Turks. It was occupied by Christians during the Crusades, then was re-taken by the Mamelukes, following which it became part of the Ottoman Empire. When this collapsed after World War I, the city was for a time a French Mandate. Antakya became part of the young nation of Turkey in 1939.

Nearby Daphne (Harbiye), is on a lovely forested mountain with waterfalls. The place is reputed by myth to be where Apollo pursued the nymph Daphne, at whose behest Zeus changed her into a laurel tree --Daphne is the Greek word for laurel. In the early days of the city, her temple was established here by Seleucis I.