Syrian Antioch - Earthquake Areas
May 9, 2023
This morning our aim was to visit Syrian Antioch , modern day Hatay Turkey, where followers of Jesus were first called Christians. This is the group of believers that sent out Paul and Barnabus on their first missionary journey.
This trip took us through some of the worst of the earthquake damaged areas from the February earthquakes. It was incredibly sad to see this devastation, the tent cities, the military and police necessary to reorganize life, and the young children running around in the rubble. We’ve included some pictures and ask you to pray for the people of Turkey affected by this. Many thousands died and likely many hundreds more will die due to sanitation issues. We visited this city in 2021 and it is unrecognizable.
St Peters grotto - the early Christian cave church commemorating Peter - did survive the earthquake but damage to the mountain side and risk of further tremors has it closed and off limits. We were able to see the gate area and the side of the mountain that is filled with caves and tunnels and was used by Christian monastics in the past.
Next we drove, with a bit of difficulty due to roads still in need of repair, to the ancient harbor of Seleucia Pieria- the harbor for Antioch from which Paul and Barnabus departed for Cyprus. Remains of the ancient harbor are visible in the waters of the Mediterranean Sea, with Kilic mountain in the background. This very near the Syrian border today. Near here is a Roman engineering feat - the Titus tunnel. This tunnel helped drain flood water from the city which was on the Orontes River and also got water flowing down from the mountains. There is little Roman bridge near the tunnel still intact. The tunnel itself is massive as you will see in the pictures. It was started in the 1st century AD.
Nearby are the Besikli caves, part of the necropolis of the ancient city of Seleucia Pieria. There are carved clams and vine branches in the ceilings of these elaborate burial caves - which don’t show up well in the photos unfortunately.
