Well, I've finally made it to Turkey with the blog pics. Only about 10 days or so behind now.
Antakya is not far from the Syrian border so has a fascinating mixture of Eastern Arabic and Turkish influences. The bus and taxi trips were wonderful, along the Orontes R. valley - extremely fertile - citrus, grapes, cropping (cotton and wheat), livestock, vegetables, melons and olives (I've been struck by the abundance of fresh produce in Turkey in general).
Antakya, Antioch in the bible, was founded in 300 BC and was the third largest city of the Roman Empire and capital of the Roman province of Syria. It was by far and away one of the wealthiest cities of the Roman Empire. It was once part of French ruled Syria and is culturally diverse. It has the world's finest exhibit of mosaics.
Antioch was the centre of Christendom outside Palestine. The apostles preached there before reaching out on their missionary journeys to spread the word of Christ. It was the place where the term "Christian" first came into use, referring to converts of St Paul. In 260 AD, it fell to the Persians and over the next 13 centuries has been conquered by Arabs, Byzantines, Seljuk Turks, Frankish Crusaders and Egyptians. A diverse and fascinating place. Enjoy just a few of the many mosaic pics and especially the gold buttons. Hope all is well and its not too freezing at home. Had a great swim here in Datca yesterday. Ash
