Antakya

Sister cities

• Kiel

History

Humans have occupied the area of Antioch since the Chalcolithic period (6th millennium BCE), as revealed by archaeological excavations of Alalakh, among others. The Macedonian King Alexander the Great, after defeating the Achaemenid Empire in the Battle of Issus in 333 BC, followed the Orontes south into Syria and occupied the area. The city of Antioch was founded in 300 BC, after the death of Alexander, by the Seleucid emperor Seleucus I Nicator. It played an important role as one of the largest cities in the Seleucid, Roman, and Byzantine empires. The city swapped hands between the Romans and the Sasanian Empire in the 3rd century. It was the battleground for the siege of Antioch (253) when Shapur I defeated the Roman army and the later Battle of Antioch (613) where the Persians were successful at capturing the city for the last time. It was a key city during the early history of Christianity, in particular that of the Syriac Orthodox Church, the Antiochian Orthodox Church and the Maronite Church, as well as during the spread of Islam and the Crusades. Acts 11:26: "So it was that for an entire year they met withe the church and taught a great many people, and it was in Antioch that the disciples were first called 'Christians.'" In 637, during the reign of the Byzantine emperor Heraclius, Antioch was conquered by the Rashidun Caliphate during the Battle of the Iron Bridge. The city became known in Arabic as (). Since the Umayyad Caliphate was unable to penetrate the Anatolian plateau, Antioch found itself on the frontline of the conflicts between two hostile empires during the next 350 years, so that the city went into a precipitous decline. After the demise of Umayyad rule, Antioch became part of the Abbasid empire (except for a brief rule of the Tulunids),…

Geography

Antakya is located on the banks of the Orontes River (), approximately inland from the Mediterranean coast. The city is in a valley surrounded by mountains, the Nur Mountains (ancient Amanos) to the northwest and Mount Keldağ (Jebel Akra) to the south, with the 440 m high Mount Habib-i Neccar (the ancient Mount Silpius) forming its eastern limits. The mountains are a source of a green marble. Antakya is at the northern edge of the Dead Sea Rift and vulnerable to earthquakes. The plain of Amik to the north-east of the city is fertile soil watered by the Orontes, the Karasu and the Afrin rivers; the lake in the plain was drained in 1980 by a French company. At the same time channels were built to widen the Orontes and let it pass neatly through the city centre. The Orontes is joined in Antakya by the Hacı Kürüş stream to the north-east of the city near the church of St Peter, and the Hamşen which runs down from Habib-i Neccar to the south-west, under Memekli Bridge near the army barracks. Flora includes the bay trees and myrtle. There are 95 neighbourhoods in Antakya District: * Açıkdere * Akasya * Akçaova * Akcurun * Akevler * Akhisar * Aksaray * Alaattin * Alahan * Alazı * Altınçay * Anayazı * Apaydın * Arpahan * Aşağıoba * Avsuyu * Aydınlıkevler * Bağrıyanık * Barbaros * Biniciler * Bitiren * Boşin * Bozhüyük * Büyükdalyan * Cebrail * Cumhuriyet * Demirköprü * Derince * Dikmece * Doğanköy * Dutdibi * Ekinci * Emek * Esenlik * Esentepe * Fevziçakmak * Gazi * Gazipaşa * General Şükrü Kanatlı * Gökçegöz * Gülderen * Güllübahçe * Günyazı * Güzelburç * Habib-i Neccar * Hacı Ömer Alpagot * Haraparası * Hasanlı * Havuzlar * İplik Pazarı * Kantara * Karaali * Karaalibölüğü * Kardeşler * Karlısu * Kisecik * Kışla Saray * Kocaabdi * Küçükdalyan * Kuruyer * Kuyulu *…

Most-observed species

• House Sparrow

  Passer domesticus (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  1,158
• European Goldfinch

  Carduelis carduelis (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  1,051
• White-spectacled Bulbul

  Pycnonotus xanthopygos (Hemprich & Ehrenberg, 1833) · Aves
  1,048
• Laughing Dove

  Spilopelia senegalensis (Linnaeus, 1766) · Aves
  1,031
• European Greenfinch

  Chloris chloris (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  1,016
• Delicate Prinia

  Prinia lepida Blyth, 1844 · Aves
  998
• White Wagtail

  Motacilla alba Linnaeus, 1758 · Aves
  983
• Crested Lark

  Galerida cristata (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  879

Most recent

• M 4.3 — 2026-02-20
  2 km SW of Kırıkhan, Turkey
• M 4.1 — 2025-12-17
  17 km NNE of Kırıkhan, Turkey
• M 4.1 — 2025-12-15
  3 km S of Günyazı, Turkey
• M 3.6 — 2025-11-07
  1 km WSW of Samankaya, Turkey
• M 4.1 — 2025-04-03
  6 km NNW of Toygarlı, Turkey
• M 4.2 — 2025-01-10
  11 km SW of Büyükçat, Turkey