The church — also known as the St. Pierre Church — spans some 9.5 meters wide, 13 meters long, and seven meters high, and in 2011 was added to UNESCO’s Tentative World Heritage List.
According to UNESCO’s website, the church, the world’s very first cathedral, dates to the years A.D. 38-39 and was dedicated to the first pope, St. Peter (Pierre).
“The church was announced as a place of pilgrimage by the pope in 1963” since it “witnessed the first Christians and their meetings,” said the website.
“Every year, thousands of local and foreign tourists visit the church. It is an important place for religious tourism,” Husnu Isikgor, the provincial culture and tourism director, told Anadolu Agency.
“Also, every year religious ceremonies are carried out here. Our aim is to add the church to UNESCO’s permanent list,” he said.
Hatay, one of Turkey’s cosmopolitan provinces, is home to various minority groups such as Syriac Orthodox Christians, Syriac Catholics, and Armenians.
History
The oldest surviving parts of the church building date from at least the 4th or 5th century; these include some pieces of floor mosaics, and traces of frescoes on the right side of the altar.
The tunnel inside which opens to the mountainside is thought to have served the Christians for evacuation of the church in case of sudden raids and attacks. Water which seeps from the nearby rocks was gathered inside to drink and to use for baptism; flow of this water, which visitors drank and collected to give to those who were ill (believing that it was healing and curative), has lessened as a result of recent earthquakes.
Crusaders of the First Crusade who captured Antakya in 1098 lengthened the church by a few meters and connected it with two arches to the facade, which they constructed. Acting on orders from Pope Pius IX, Capuchin Friars restored the church and rebuilt the facade in 1863; French Emperor Napoleon III contributed to the restoration. The remains to the left of the entrance belong to colonnades which formerly stood in front of the present facade.
Atop the stone altar in the middle of the church is a stonework platform placed in memory of Saint Peter’s Platform Holiday, which was celebrated every 21 February in Antakya. A marble statue of Saint Peter was placed above the altar in 1932.
The garden of the church has been used as a cemetery for hundreds of years. Graves and burials have also been located inside the church, especially around the altar. The church is the burial place of Tancred, Prince of Galilee, as well as one of the three final resting places of the remains of the Holy Roman Emperor Frederick Barbarossa, who died in the Third Crusade.
The church is a museum today, but it is possible to perform worship services inside the church under the inspection of the Museum Management by obtaining a permit from the Office of the Provincial Governor.
