ANTAKYA HOTEL

	ST. PETER's CHURCH
	The Church is located on the lower slopes of Habib-i Naccar mountain, 2 km. far from city center, on the Antakya-Reyhanlı road. It is in a natural cave. After the cruciffication of christ (First century AD), one of his disciple St.Peter had come to the city of Antioch to spread the christion gospel. Even the word of christion was used for the first time in this chruch. And in 1963 pope paul Vl. Declared the church as pilgrimage site for christions, since then every year on june 29 the catholic church holds St.Peter's festival in this church.


	HABİB-İ NACCAR MOSQUE
	The mosquie is on the kurtuluş stret it is named Antakya resident who was an early follower of christ's disciple so that he gave his life for his beliefs. In the northeost corner of the mosque 4 meters undergrand there is a shrine of Habib-i Naccar the mosque was built during the ottoman tines. It is surrounded with the monrese (college for religious studies) rooms. In the courtyard there is a fantain deting from 19. th. century.


	HARBİYE (Defne)
	The toun of Harbiye is 9 km out of Antakya it was a summer retreot during the Helenistic and Roma times it is belicued that Harbiye also hasted the first olympic cirit games. This ancient toun was reconstnuction by. Selevkos Nikator l. With it's fomaus vaterfalls today it is still a popular excursion for local people.


	SAMANDAĞ ÇEVLİK TİTUS TUNNEL AND BURİAL GROUNDS (THE ANTIQUE CITY OF SELEVKEIA PIERRIA)
	The antique city is in 25 km. distance from city center. It was established as an harbour city by Selevkos Nikator within the oncient city site there are the remains of temple acropolis and necropolis. The city had on important role in mediterraneen commercial life. On the other hand flood water was always big danger for harbor, for this reasen during the reign of vespasion it was decided to built a tunel which was completed years lader under the rule of enather emperer Titus. The tunel is 7 meters high 6 meters wide and 1380 meters long. Near the tunel there are 12 burial grounds from roman times. The burial grands are also known es cradle cave (Beşikli Mağara).


	ISSOS RUINS
	It is the region that persion king Darius lll. and macedonion king Alexander the Great had stnuggled for in 330 BC. The site was established in Helenistic period and also surrived in Roma times. Today the remeins of antigue city and a lot of agueducts are still exist in the region.


	BAKRES CASTLE
	The castle is just above a village of the same name. The road to the village is on the Antakya-İskenderun road, 27 kilometers from antakya. The castle is to the west of the road, on a steep peak amongst the mountains. Strabon the historian mentions a castle: if this is indeed the castle to which he refers, it is very old. The castle served first to protect Belen Pass. Later it served to protect the Seleucid capital, Antakya. Durinh the Crusades, it was the most important point of defense in the Antakya Principality, and control of the castle changed hands several times. In 1268 Baybars laid seige to the castle and captured it from the Temple Knigh.


	It vas built in 1860, after the big earthquake then it was rebulit in 1990. ıt is one of oldest ond the most beautiful churches of all east Orthodox Churches after jerusalem.


	KOZ CASTLE
	The castle is located above Harbiye, near a village of the same name. It is on the Kuseyr road leading to Antakya. The castle is believed to have been built during the period of the Antakya Principality to protect Antakya's southern regions. The castle was the residence of the Latin Patriarch. In 1268 the castle was laid seige to and captured by Baybars. The castle is built around a peak. Striking features are the two semi-circular towers constructed of large stone blocks. They are still in a good state of repair but other sections of the castle are in a state of ruin.


	Carved into the mountain side near the church is a bust of Charon, ferryman over the River Styx in ancient mythology. The bust dates from the reign of Antiochus lV in the second BC. It was carved at the height of a plagues in an effort to appease the gods.


	PROTESTANT CHURCH
	This stone church was used as an Embassy Buuilding and a French Bank in French times. In 2000, this church started to be used as a Protestant Church by the Kwong Lins Methodist church.


	TERYST.SİMEON THE STYLITE MONASTERY
	The monastery is 15 km away from Aknehir betveen the Antakya-Samandağ road. The monastery ruins are located of the top of a 479 meters high montain. The ruins are within Aknehir municipal banddories. The monastery was built in the 6 th century AD. et the site on which St.Simeon had spent 40 years of his life on top of a column.


	SOKULLU COMPLEX
	The complex is in the region of İskenderun-Dörtyol Payas. It is the work of the architeet senan. In the complex there are 45 shops (Or corvansaray) a public bath men and women, a mosque, a madrosa and a primoy schad for boys. Constnctia of the complex was completed in 1574. opposite the complex is Payas castle.


	ALEXANDRETTA
	It was founded by Alexander The Great and called Alexandretta after his victory over the Persion Emperor Darius lll. near the city of Issos in 333. B.C. The Remains of a Phoenician city called Myriandus existed here in ancient times. The city came successively under the domination of the Seleukos, the Byzatines, the Arabs and finnaly Ottomans.


	YENİŞEHİR
	Yenişehir which is in the quarter of Yenişehir and around the Yenişehir lake, was a settlement place known as İmma during the Roman time. İmma which was demaged by the wars and the fires in the 12 th. century A.D. was and badly demaged by on earthqualce in 1171. the remains of that period can now be seen with in the quarter of Yenişehir. The Yenişehir lake is the most beautiful relaxion and picnic site of the Amik plain with its casinos and restavrants.


	SYNAGOGUE
	This building is thought have built as a Synagogue in the 1700 s. The sacret book "The Old Talmud" which has a 500 hundred year history, was written on antelope skin in Hebrew.


	TYCHE OF ANTAKYA
	This 8 cm. long bronze statue is found around Mağaracık village in Samandağ. It is the work of Eutychides who was one of the famous sculptar of Hekenistic period. The statue was dated form roman time.


	CITY WALLS
	On the top of the mountain it is possible to see collapsed remains of the walls and towers, as well as some remains of the castle. At one time, the walls had gates opening toward various neighboring cities (such as İskenderun, Aleppo, Daphne and Kuseyr). The most important of these was the Köprü Kapısı (Bridge Gate) which was built over the Asi River and was the only entrance for roads from the north. The gate was removed at the end of the 19th. century. The stone bridge was demolished in 1971 and replaced.


	THE CATHOLIC CHURCH
	The church is on Kurtuluş street in the city center of Antakya. The Catholics resettled down to Antakya after a period of 6000 years. Those who came here for the first time, established a church and a school for the children of Europeans. The French priests who came to Antakya later on, established a small monastery. They got a permission from the sultan of that period to estanlish a Catholic Church in 1852 and the church way finally bult after a few years


	BURIAL GROUNDS
	These are lodated to the south of Altınözü, near Yunushan village. There are a large number of caves and rock-cut graves which are believed to date from Roman times.


	OLD ANTAKYA HOUSES
	Generally these houses constucted with stane, brick and wood the front part of the houses are overlooking to the south and west sides. The mast important characteistics of them are their Open-space holls with wooden pillars. Mony of these have large cantyards, ponds, wello and beautiful gardens surrounded with various flowers end fruit trees. These two centuries old houses were built in Anatolion style Today it is still possible to see them in the old reighbar hoods of the city.