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Antioch

Antioch on the Orontes
Ἀντιόχεια ἡ ἐπὶ Ὀρόντου (Ancient Greek)
Antiochia su Oronte.PNG
Map of Antioch in Roman and early Byzantine times
Antioch is located in Turkey
Antioch
Shown within Turkey
Alternate name Syrian Antioch
Location Antakya, Hatay Province, Turkey
Coordinates 36°12′N 36°9′E / 36.200°N 36.150°E / 36.200; 36.150Coordinates: 36°12′N 36°9′E / 36.200°N 36.150°E / 36.200; 36.150
Type Settlement
Area 15 km2 (5.8 sq mi)
History
Builder Seleucus I Nicator
Founded 293 BC
Periods Hellenistic to Medieval
Cultures Greek, Roman, Armenian, Arab, Turkish
Events First Crusade
Site notes
Excavation dates 1932–1939
Condition Mostly buried

Antioch on the Orontes (/ˈæntiˌɒk/; also Syrian Antioch) was an ancient Greco-Roman city on the eastern side of the Orontes River. Its ruins lie near the modern city of Antakya, Turkey, and lends the modern city its name.

Antioch was founded near the end of the 4th century BC by Seleucus I Nicator, one of Alexander the Great's generals. The city's geographical, military, and economic location benefited its occupants, particularly such features as the spice trade, the Silk Road, and the Persian Royal Road. It eventually rivaled Alexandria as the chief city of the Near East. It was also the main center of Hellenistic Judaism at the end of the Second Temple period. Most of the urban development of Antioch was done during the Roman Empire, when the city was one of the most important in the eastern Mediterranean area of Rome's dominions.

Antioch was called "the cradle of Christianity" as a result of its longevity and the pivotal role that it played in the emergence of both Hellenistic Judaism and early Christianity. The Christian New Testament asserts that the name "Christian" first emerged in Antioch. It was one of the four cities of the Syrian tetrapolis, and its residents were known as Antiochenes. The city was once a metropolis of half a million people during Augustan times, but it declined to relative insignificance during the Middle Ages because of warfare, repeated earthquakes, and a change in trade routes, which no longer passed through Antioch from the far east following the Mongol conquests.


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