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Mount Habib Neccar and the city walls which climb the hillsides symbolise Antakya, making the city a formidable fortress built on a series of hills running north-east to south-west. Antakya was originally centred on the east bank of the river.<br/><br/> Since the 19th century, the city has expanded with new neighbourhoods built on the plains across the river to the south-west, and four bridges connect the old and new cities. Both Turkish and Arabic are still widely spoken in Antakya, although written Arabic is rarely used. A mixed community of faiths and denominations co-exist peacefully here. Although almost all the inhabitants are Muslim, a substantial proportion adhere to the Alevi and the Arab Nusayri traditions, and in 'Harbiye' there is a place to honour the Nusayri saint Hızır.<br/><br/> Numerous tombs of Muslim saints, both Sunni and Alevi, are located throughout the city. Several small Christian communities are active in the city, with the largest church being St Peter and St Paul on Hurriyet Caddesi. With its long history of spiritual and religious movements, Antakya is a place of pilgrimage for Christians and Muslims. It has a reputation in Turkey as a place for spells, fortune telling, miracles and spirits.<br/><br/> Antakya - ancient Antioch - was regarded as the western terminus of the great Silk Road, linking the Mediterranean world with distant Chang 'An (Xi'an) in China.
Map of ancient Syria published in 1900. The boundaries of Syria are shown to include Palestine as far as Gaza, all of Lebanon, and Antakya in Turkey. This corresponds quite closely to Syria before the French Mandate was imposed in 1920. Lebanon was separated from Syria by the French in 1926, and Turkey occupied Antakya unilaterally in 1939.