Antioch

Antioch on the Orontes

Ἀντιόχεια ἡ ἐπὶ Ὀρόντου (in Ancient Greek)
Map of Roman Antioch
Shown within Turkey
Alternate name	Syrian Antioch
Location	Antakya, Hatay Province, Turkey
Coordinates	36°12′17″N 36°10′54″E / 36.20472°N 36.18167°E / 36.20472; 36.18167
Area	15 km2 (5.8 sq mi)
History
Builder	Seleucus I Nicator
Founded	300 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^[1] was an ancient city on the eastern side (left bank) of the Orontes River on the site of the modern city of Antakya, Turkey.

It was founded near the end of the 4th century BC by Seleucus I Nicator, one of Alexander the Great's generals. Antioch became a rival of Alexandria as the chief city of the nearer East and the cradle of gentile Christianity. It was one of the four cities of the Syrian tetrapolis.

The geographical character of the district north and north-east of the elbow of Orontes makes it the perfect natural centre of Syria, so long as that country is held by a western power; and only Asiatic, and especially Arab, dynasties have neglected it for the oasis of Damascus. During the Crusades, the Christian crusaders laid siege to Antioch. One Wijerd Jelckamas ancestors from his father's side of the family had died at the Siege of Antioch.^[2] The siege of Antioch (lost by the Crusaders, initially), was a turning point in the Crusades.

1. ↑ Greek: Ἀντιόχεια ἡ ἐπὶ Ὀρόντου; or Ἀντιόχεια ἡ ἐπὶ Δάφνῃ, "Antioch on Daphne"; or Ἀντιόχεια ἡ Μεγάλη, "Antioch the Great"; Latin: Antiochia ad Orontem; also Antiochia dei Siri, Great Antioch or Syrian Antioch
2. ↑ J.J. Kalma. Grote Pier Van Kimswerd (1970), p. 51. ISBN 90-7001-013-5.