Antakya
Template: Infobox city in Turkey / Maintenance / County
Antakya ( Antioch altgr. Αντιόχεια, Arabic أنطاكية Antakiyyah, former name Antioch ) is a city in southern Turkey and the capital of the province of Hatay.
History
In the vicinity of Antakya the Bronze Age city was Alalakh (now Tell Acana ). Alalakh was an important regional trade center, whose beginnings date back to about 3400 BC. Here the trade routes of Aleppo, Mesopotamia and Palestine from crossed to Anatolia and the Mediterranean. About the Nahr al - Asi, the city was connected to the sea. Trade with Cyprus is attested in written and archaeological. A source of wealth was ivory. The area around Alalakh was known in the Bronze Age for its herds of elephants.
Today's Antakya is located on the site of the ancient city of Antioch on the Orontes.
In 638 Antioch was conquered by the Arabs, 969 but recaptured by the Byzantine Emperor Nikephoros II. 1070 was Peter Libellisios imperial governor, 1074-1078 Isaac Komnenos.
After the Byzantine defeat at the Battle of Manzikert ( 1071 ), the Armenian adventurer Vasak seized power. 1076 or 1080 Byzantine soldiers killed him and the former Byzantine general Philaretos Brachamios took control. 1085, the city fell to the Seljuk Sultan Malik Shah I. 13 years later, it was conquered by the Crusaders and as agreed returned to Byzantium, but made the capital of the Principality of Antioch.
During the 12th and 13th century Antioch remained in the hands of the Crusaders, until it was finally conquered in 1268 by the Mamluks under Sultan Baibars. Baibars destroyed the city so hard that they never became more important again. The entire Christian population was enslaved, which led to a decline in the price of slaves. Antioch became an insignificant small town. The Greek Orthodox Patriarch of Antioch resided since the late 14th century in Damascus. In 1517 the city became part of the Ottoman Empire.
After his graduation as a result of World War Antioch and İskenderun were occupied by the French. 1923 France transferred the official League of Nations mandate over both cities and Syria. Maintained by Damascus, Antioch maintained a status as an autonomous region. Nevertheless, even here the followers of Atatürk were welcomed with open arms. He should it have been, of the area gave the name of Hatay, on the basis of a former Hittite principality.
1938, the State Hatay was proclaimed with Antioch as its capital in the Sanjak of Alexandretta. This in turn joined by a referendum in 1939 in Turkey. France held back, as it hoped, Turkey as to dissuade, to move closer to Germany, or even back to form an alliance. Although Antakya is now the capital of the province of Hatay. The status as a ( economically ) important city but it had to cede to İskenderun.
Antakya is the seat since 1992, Mustafa Kemal University.
Population and Religion
2010 live about 213,000 inhabitants in Antakya. The Orontes River splits the city in the old and new area while the old town is uphill. The population consists mostly of Turkish Muslims, and there are Christians, Jews and Alawites. In addition you can hear Turkish hence the Arabic language.
Sights and surroundings
In Antakya there is an archaeological museum with one of the most important collections of Roman mosaics. Besides the mosques, there are several Christian churches. The most famous is probably the St. Peter 's Grotto, which is to find something outside on a mountainside. It was officially declared by the Vatican to the oldest church in Christendom and to have been dedicated to the legend, the apostle Peter.
Surrounded by numerous water sources that supply drinking water for the city, and huge laurel trees, Harbiye, the recreation area for many Antakyaner, about five kilometers away. The place was a villa town during the Roman times and was named after the nymph Daphne, which is, according to legend, here wanted to hide from Apollo and was therefore transformed into a laurel tree. Also should once Cleopatra got married at this place.
About 30 km to the west, the Mediterranean Sea, with numerous bays and beaches, near the mouth of the Orontes River about six kilometers east of Samandağ situated on a hill, the monastery of Symeon Stylites the Younger. Twelve kilometers south is the place Kozkalesi the Crusader castle Cursat.
Traffic
The city has a domestic airport, the Hatay Airport, which is 20 km away from the city center.
Pictures
St. Peter 's Church (or St. Peter 's Grotto )
Map of Antioch, 1912
The river Asi Nehri (or Nahr al - Asi or Orontes )
Kurtuluş Caddesi, street view in Antakya
In the bazaar ( bazaar ) of Antakya
Twin Cities
- Germany Aalen, Germany, since 1995
Famous people
- Walter Sydney Adams (1876-1956), American astronomer
- Halit Çelenk (1922-2011), lawyer and politician
- Ayhan Tumani (born 1971 ), football coach
- Gökhan Zan ( born 1981 ), football player