Antiocheia Ancient City in southern Turkey has Roman-era chambers and vessels
Submitted by Andy_B on Tuesday, 25 October 2022 Page Views: 707
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The new religion of Christianity was born in Antioch during the Roman period. It was here that the term "Christian" was first applied to Jesus Christ's followers. The local archaeology museum led a 12-member team that began excavations around St. Pierre Church, a site of pilgrimage for many Christians. It was opened on October 10, in Hatay.
According to the head of the local archeology museum, the excavation team conducted the first excavations in the residential areas of the ancient city. Ayse Ersoy is the head of the Hatay Archeology Museum. Ersoy spoke to Anadolu Agency and stated that he believed that pilgrims bought offering vessels from the church, filled them with holy water at the Church of St. Pierre, and then returned to the church for more pilgrimage.
According to UNESCO, the ancient city was located on the foothills of Mount Starius (also known as Habib-i Neccar) and the Asi River. It includes the cave church carved into the mountainside, at the spot where St. Pierre preached his first sermon.
St. Pierre Church
St. Pierre is the patron saint of the church. He is also the founder of Antakya Church and was the archpriest for the first Christian community in the area. He is also the first Pope in the world. The surrounding area of the St. Pierre Church played an important part in the early Christian period as well as the spreading of the faith. St. Pierre preached his first sermon in the cave where the church was built. Later, it was made into an official church.The city of Antakya (Hatay), was one of the first areas outside of Palestine in which the Christian religion took root. It is believed that this cave belonged to St Luke the Evangelist, a Gospel writer. Tradition and two biblical passages (Acts 9.23, Galatians 2.21) claim that Pierre, a disciple of Jesus, founded the church in Antioch. This is where the name The Church of St. Pierre is derived. Antakya was also home to a number of other important saints, including St. Ignatius, who was martyred in Rome in 110 AD.
