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All images © by Roberto Piperno, owner of the domain. Write to romapip@quipo.it. Text edited by Rosamie Moore.
Part one: En route to Antiochia
(detail of a sarcophagus in the Museum of Antiochia)

This page deals with some cities and monuments located in the north-eastern corner of the Mediterranean Sea, belonging to the historical regions of Cilicia (today Cukurova) and Syria, as shown in the maps here below. Part two is dedicated to some Roman Mosaics found near Antiochia.

Map of the area

This land was (and still is) strategically important as it allowed access to Asia Minor and Europe (through the Cilician Gates in the Taurus range), to Mesopotamia and Asia (through the River Euphrates) and to Egypt and Africa (through the River Orontes). Sumerians and Hittites, Assyrians and Persians had control over this area until in 333 BC Alexander the Great defeated the Persian army at Issus and ensured this land to the Hellenized world for more than a thousand years. The Romans took control of this region in 190 BC by defeating at Magnesia the heirs of Seleucus (one of Alexander's generals) who had taken this part of the Empire. The Arab expansion reached this area in the VIIth century AD, but in the Xth century the Byzantines re-established their rule. In 1097 the First Crusade created a feudal state in the region, which lasted until the XIIIth century. From this time on Seljuks, Armenians, Egyptians, Venetians and the Kings of Cyprus all competed for control of this area, but it was not until 1517 that the Ottoman Sultan Selim I finally conquered it and expanded his Empire to Syria and Egypt. After World War I part of this area was included in the French Protectorate of Syria. It was returned to Turkey in 1938.

Adana

Adana is located at the center of the coastal plain of Cilicia and it was founded in olden times. Today Adana is the fourth city of Turkey with nearly 2,000,000 inhabitants. Its landmark is the modern mosque erected by Mr Sakip Sabanci, owner of a large corporation. The building is a sort of compilation of different styles, but it is clearly inspired by the mosques of Istanbul. There are also more ancient memories: the picture here below shows: a) a very old bridge rebuilt many times, but still showing its Roman origin (behind it you can see the modern mosque); b) a Roman sarcophagus in the Museum of Adana; c) a detail of Ulu Cami, a mosque built in the XVIth century which shows the influence of Arab architecture in the use of black and white stripes (more on Adana).

Adana

Sokullu Mehmet Pasha Caravanserai

Near the town of Payas there is a very interesting series of buildings erected in the second half of the XVIth century to support trade between Istanbul and Syria, which had been conquered by the Ottomans at the beginning of the century. The Ottomans had a very well organized land trade system, based on regularly planned caravans. To sustain this trade the caravans relied on safe places where they could rest and buy provisions. The caravanserai near Payas is named after the Gran Visir Sokullu Mehmet and it consists of the stables for the horses and camels, of a bedesten (a covered bazaar), several hammam (baths) and mederse (theological schools) and a mosque. Because the area had been recently acquired and because its proximity to the sea exposed it to the risk of Venetian raids, the caravanserai was protected by walls and by a little fortress. The image below shows the entrance to the caravanserai, the courtyard with the stables and the fortress adjoining the caravanserai.

The caravanserai

Less than a mile away a very small fortress shows a different origin. The design is clearly Italian and most likely the fortress was initially built by the Crusader Principate of Antiochia and then upgraded to respond to the needs of artillery warfare by the Venetians to protect their trade in the area.

Venetian or Genoese Fortress

Alexandretta

Alexandretta (in Turkish Iskenderun) was founded by Alexander the Great in 333 BC, after the victory at Issus had opened up for him the path to Egypt and Mesopotamia. It is the first of many towns named after him. The development of Alexandretta was relatively limited as a few years later Seleucus, a general of Alexander, founded another port in the area (Seleucia Pieria) and this port became more important. Today Alexandretta is a busy industrial port (oil, steel, cement) with a very fine sea promenade. The picture below shows the gardens along the sea and the monument to Kemal Ataturk. I was there on April 1st, 2002: the fine weather allowed me to see in the distance the Rock of Gibraltar at the opposite end of the Mediterranean Sea.

Alexandretta

Antiochia

Antiochia (today called Antakya or more often Hatay) is named after the wife of Seleucus, a general of Alexander the Great who enlarged a town founded in 307 BC by another of Alexander's generals, Antigonus. It was called by the Romans Antiochia ad Orontes with reference to the river which crossed it (actually ancient Antiochia lay mainly on the left bank of the river). Antiochia soon became the most important market of the area. In the IInd century AD it had 500,000 inhabitants and with Alexandria it was for several centuries the main center of this part of the Eastern Roman Empire. Antiochia played a great role in the early development of Christianity and St Peter and St Paul lived here for many years. Because of earthquakes in the VIth century and because of the effects of Arab expansion, Antiochia declined. It became the capital of a Crusaders' state and it fell in 1268 to the Egyptian Mamelukes who destroyed it. Little is left of the old monuments, although a part of the town still retains a flavor of the more recent past. The picture here below shows the entrance to the cave which is considered the most ancient cathedral and some typical old Turkish houses.

Antiochia

Seleucia Pieria

Seleucia Pieria was founded by Seleucus to provide a port for Antiochia. Its importance was such that under Vespasianus and Titus in the Ist century AD, the Romans diverted a stream (to protect the port from floods) by cutting an artificial channel into the rock. This, and a few stones of the aqueduct, is all that is left of Seleucia Pieria. The walk along the (now dried) artificial channel, which includes several tunnels, is very evocative. The picture shows a stretch of the channel and an arch of the aqueduct.

Seleucia Pieria

Daphne

According to Greek mythology, Apollo (hit by Eros with a golden arrow) fell in love with Daphne, a priestess of Mother Earth and he pursued her. However, Daphne (hit by Eros with a lead arrow, which made her afraid of love), when Apollo overtook her, cried out to Mother Earth, who, in the nick of time, spirited her away and left a laurel-tree in her place. Apollo made a wreath from the leaves of the laurel tree to console himself. The background of this page is made of Bernini's masterpiece Apollo and Daphne in Galleria Borghese in Rome and it shows Daphne being turned into a laurel tree.

In the enlarged Greek world following the conquests of Alexander the Great the site of the event was identified in a laurel tree wood near Antiochia. With the development of Antiochia many villas were built on this site during the IInd - Vth centuries AD and the location became so famous that Antiochia was named after it ad Daphne rather than ad Orontes.

Daphne

Daphne (in Turkish Harbiye) is today a holiday resort where the citizens of Antiochia go to seek some breeze and have a picnic in the woods which surround it. Of the temples built in honor of Apollo and other gods very little is left, but walking in the woods is still pleasant.

Move on to part two: The Mosaics of Antiochia.