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Antakya
Metropolitan municipality in Turkey

Antakya

Antakya, Turkish form of Antioch, is a municipality and the capital district of Hatay Province, Turkey, with an area of 703 km2 (271 sq mi) and a population of around 400,000 people as of 2022.

Plan a trip to Antakya→From Aleppo

It is in the Hatay Province, which is the southernmost region of Turkey. The city is located in a well-watered and fertile valley on the Orontes River, about 20 kilometres (12 mi) from the Levantine Sea.

Get in

Getting to Antakya

  1. 01
    Hatay Airport

    Turkish Airlines fly three times a day from Istanbul (IST) and twice from Istanbul (SAW), taking 1 hr 50 min.

  2. 02
    Antakya Otogarı is
See

Worth seeing

  1. 01
    Cumhuriyet Meydanı

    Republic Square, is the roundabout at the centre of town.

  2. 02
    Habib-i Nejjar Mosque

    This mosque was rebuilt after it was wrecked by earthquakes in 1853 and again in 2023, so what you see now is a squeaky-clean version of 2026.

  3. 03
    Necmi Asfuroğlu Archaeological Museum

    They were preparing to build a hotel in 2009 when they found remains of ancient Antioch, so they mounted the hotel on steel pillars and created a museum below.

  4. 04
    Church of Saint Peter

    One of the oldest churches of Christianity, where St Peter preached, though its earliest structures are from 4th or 5th century.

  5. 05
    Demir Kapı or Bab-ı Hadid

    Iron Gate, is the ruins of a dam built 555 AD to control flash-flooding from the stream in the ravine.

Do

Things to do

Football: Hatayspor were relegated in 2025 and again in 2026, so they now play soccer in TFF 2. Lig the third tier. Their New Hatay Stadium was badly damaged by the earthquake so for the time being they play at Fuat Tosyalı Stadium in İskenderun. Beach: Samandağ beach (27 km west) is 14 km long. Few facilities are open.

Eat

Where to eat

Hatay has the usual Turkish staple foods but also Arab-influenced cuisine. So you'll find humus and tahini here, and künefe a shredded pastry with cheese melted within. City centre restaurants in business in 2026 include Serenat at Gazipaşa Cd 62, Antik Han Plaza at Uzun Çarşı Cd 182, Gariban Kebap at Küçük Sanayi Cd 14, Ahmet Usta'nin Yeri on Abdurrahman Melek Cd, and Pöç Kasap at İzzet Güçlü Cd 28/4.

Text adapted from Wikipedia and Wikivoyage, CC BY-SA 4.0. Photograph: Wikimedia Commons (see file page), Wikimedia Commons.