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Defne
District in Turkey

Defne

Defne is a municipality and district of Hatay Province, Turkey.

Plan a trip to Defne→From Aleppo

Its area is 155 km2, and its population is 139,605 (2026). The district Defne was created in 2013 from parts of the former central district of Hatay and the district of Samandağ. It covers the southwestern part of the agglomeration of Antakya and the adjacent countryside.

Get in

Getting to Defne

  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: Heinrich-Böll-Stiftung from Berlin, Deutschland (see Commons), Wikimedia Commons.