Touring Turkey / Antakya:

Antakya, with its other name Hatay, is known as Antioch of Orantes of Biblical times.

This is the place where followers of Jesus Christ were first called as "Christians" for the first time ever.
Such a Biblical land this is... and a pilgrimage site.
A main reason is of course the presence of the Church of St. Peter (Acts of the Apostles, 11: 25-27); a church carved in rocks, dedicated to Peter; one of the first Disciples of Jesus & twelve Apostles.

A very attractive visit is to Archaeological Museum; recorded as the second largest collection of Roman mosaics in the world. Yes... Romans were here, so was Alexander the Great (defeating Persians) before Romans and Byzantines after Romans.

Today, strolling around the narrow streets of Antakya, you hear two spoken languages... one asks a question in Turkish, reply comes in Arabic. In fact, visiting Antakya, you are bordering Syria, only a few miles away from the town center.

Just imagine the culture shock... not only the foreigners visiting this land, but also, local people living in the west find it hard to believe that they are still in Turkey.