Explore The Mediterranean coast and the Hatay
ANTAKYA, 45km south of İskenderun, stands on the site of ancient Antioch and, although there’s little sense of historical continuity, the city’s laid-back pace, cosmopolitan outlook and subtly Arab atmosphere make it unique in Turkey. Flanked by mountains to the north and south, it sits in the bed of a broad river valley planted with olive trees, providing a welcome visual relief after travelling from the drab flatlands surrounding Adana. Although little survives from the city’s Seleucid and Roman past, it has enough attractions to merit at least an overnight stop, including an excellent archeological museum and an unusual cave-church from which St Peter is said to have preached. The food in Antakya is some of the most varied and best in Turkey, thanks to the city’s Arab heritage.
The city was founded as Antioch in the fourth century BC by Seleucus Nicator, one of the four generals among whom the empire of Alexander the Great was divided. It soon grew and by the second century BC it had developed into a multiethnic metropolis of half a million – one of the largest cities in the ancient world and a major staging-post on the newly opened Silk Road. It also acquired a reputation as a centre for all kinds of moral excess, causing St Peter to choose it as the location of one of the world’s first Christian communities in the hope that the new religion would exercise a restraining influence. Indeed, the patriarchy of Antioch became one of the five senior official positions in the early Christian Church’s organization.
Despite being razed by a series of earthquakes during the sixth century AD, Antioch was able to maintain its prosperity after the Roman era, and only with the rise of Constantinople did the city begin to decline. In 1098 the Crusader kings Bohemond and Raymond took the city in the name of Christianity after a vicious eight-month siege and a savage massacre of Turks, imposing a Christian rule in Antioch that lasted until the city fell to the Mamluks of Egypt, who sacked it in 1268. By the time the Ottomans, under Selim the Grim, took over in 1516, Antioch had long since vanished from the main stage of world history, and by the turn of the last century the city was little more than a village, squatting amid the ruins of the ancient metropolis. After World War I, Antakya, along with most of the rest of the Hatay, passed into the hands of the French, who laid the foundations of the modern city.
There are a number of interesting places to visit in the fertile, hilly countryside to the west of Antakya. The Saint Simeon monastery is the most renowned destination, while other local sights can be visited from the nearby resort of Samandağ. If you want to see all of the places in a day from Antakya, it’s worth renting a car or taking a taxi and driver, as public transport is limited.
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The Archeological Museum
The Archeological Museum
From the Ata Köprüsü, it’s a quick hop across to the western side of the river and the Archeological Museum (Arkeoloji Müzesi), whose collection of locally unearthed Roman mosaics ranks among the best of its kind in the world. Laid out in the first four rooms of the museum, they are in a state of near immaculate preservation and mostly depict scenes from Greco-Roman mythology.
The majority were unearthed at the suburb of Daphne (now Harbiye), which was Antioch’s main holiday resort in Roman times, and this is reflected in the sense of leisured decadence that pervades many of the scenes. A good example is the so-called Buffet Mosaic (no. 4), a vivid depiction of the rape of Ganymede, abducted by Zeus in the form of an eagle, and a banquet scene showing different courses of fish, ham, eggs and artichokes. Memorable images in room 3 include a fine portrait of Thetis and Oceanus (no. 1), the latter recognizable by the lobster claws protruding from his wet hair, and a fascinating depiction of the Evil Eye – a superstition that still has remarkable resonance in modern Turkey – being attacked by a raven, dog, scorpion, snake, centipede, panther, sword and trident as a horned goblin looks away (no. 6). Room 4 continues with an inebriated Dionysos, too drunk to stand (no. 12) and Orpheus surrounded by animals entranced by the beauty of his music (no. 23). Climb the spiral staircase in the corner of the room for a bird’s-eye view of the floor mosaic showing hunters and dogs slaying lions, tigers and cheetahs.
After the mosaics, the rest of the museum seems a little mundane, though there are some stand-out pieces like the two stone lions, which were used as column bases during the eighth century BC, and the Antakya sarcophagus in a small chamber near the ticket office where the remains of two women and a man as well as the fine gold jewellery with which they were buried are displayed.
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Samandag
Samandag
About 25km southwest of Antakya, SAMANDAĞ is an Arabic-speaking resort town of about 30,000 people. The town is currently undergoing something of a building boom, financed in part by local boys made good in the Gulf, displaying their newfound wealth with gaudy villas and four-wheel-drive utility vehicles. It is served by regular dolmuşes from Antakya’s köy garajı, which will deposit you in the town’s unprepossessing centre, a couple of kilometres inland. Here you’ll find a few shops and restaurants and a couple of banks. To get to the beach, take any dolmuş heading for “Deniz” (the sea) – although swimming here is not really recommended because of pollution from İskenderun, 50km or so up the coast.
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Vakifli
Vakifli
The tiny village of VAKIFLİ, with its apparently unremarkable mix of dilapidated mudbrick and timber houses and modern concrete villas, is in fact unique. For this is Turkey’s sole surviving Armenian village, set amidst orange groves on the lush lower slopes of Musa Dağı. During the Turkish deportations and massacres of the Armenians in 1915 the inhabitants of Vakıflı held out against the Turkish forces until they were evacuated to Port Said by French and British warships. Most of the villagers returned in 1919 when the Hatay became part of French-mandated Syria. When the Hatay joined the Turkish Republic in 1939, most of the area’s Armenians, bar the inhabitants of Vakıflı, decided to leave. At the heart of the village is the restored and extended Surp Asdvadzadzin Kilisesi, to which the village muhtar (headman) has the key, though the church is not always locked.
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Eating in Antakya
Eating in Antakya
Antakya’s food is wonderful and shows its Arab influence with many regional specialities. Starters include muhammara, a fiery purée of walnuts, hot pepper and wheat; bakla, a purée of broad beans, garlic, tahini and parsley; and tarator, a tasty mix of tahini, walnuts and yoghurt. Main courses include İspanak Borani, a soup-like stew of spinach, chickpeas, shredded meat, yoghurt and lemon juice; serimsek börek, a sort of chicken-filled samosa; and kağıt kebap, kebabs cooked in greased-paper packages. Sweets include künefe, a shredded wheat and soft, mild cheese concoction, and Haleb Burmasi (Aleppo roll), a sweet confection stuffed with pistachios, which makes a welcome change from baklava.
