Three ancient cities suffered widespread destruction in Monday’s massive earthquake in Turkey and Syria: Antakya, Sanliurfa and Aleppo.
Here are some key facts:
ANTAKYA/ANTIOCH
Antakya, a city of around 250,000 people in south-central Turkey, large parts of which have been reduced to rubble, was once the ancient city of Antioch which rivalled Alexandria as a major centre of early Christianity and was a key staging point on the Silk Road.
Founded in 300 BC by a former general of Alexander the Great, it was by turn Roman, Hellenistic, Byzantine and Ottoman before becoming an autonomous city in French-ruled Syria after World War I and then later Turkey in 1939.
But little remained of the ancient city, which included magnificent temples, theatres, aqueducts, and baths, in modern-day Antakya, capital of the province of Hatay.
A city with a continuing strong Syrian influence, it took in large numbers of refugees fleeing the civil war across the border just 20 kilometres (12 miles) away.
Antakya is also home to one of southern Turkey’s oldest Jewish communities, centered on a synagogue that was damaged in the quake. Expressing fears for the future of Jewish life in the city, the president of the Turkish Jewish community Ishak Ibrahimzade tweeted Monday: “The end of a 2,500-year-old love story.”
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