Antakya

Antakya: see Antioch, Turkey.

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Antioch

 Turkish Antakya or Hitay

City (pop., 2000: 144,910), south-central Turkey. Founded in 300 BC by the Seleucid dynasty, Antioch was the centre of the Seleucid power until 64 BC, when it became the capital of the province of Syria under the Roman Republic and Empire. An early centre of Christianity, the city was the headquarters of St. Paul c. AD 47–55. Despite being briefly occupied by the Persians in the 6th and 7th centuries, it remained part of the Byzantine Empire until the Arab invasion of the 7th century. Thereafter it returned to Byzantine rule (969) and was seized by the Turkish Seljuq dynasty (1084) before being captured by the Crusaders in 1098. (See Crusades.) From 1268 it was ruled by the Mamluk dynasty, and it was absorbed by the Ottoman Empire in 1517. The city remained under their control until after World War I (1914–18), when it was transferred to Syria. It was made part of the Republic of Turkey in 1939. The economy of the modern town is based on agriculture and light manufacturing.