Prehistory According to tradition the city dates back to the 3rd century BCE, founded by the
Seleucid Dynasty, one of the
Hellenistic kingdoms. But the history of the city cannot be separated from the history of the Lakes Region and of
Pisidia. Research done in the area has shown habitation since the
Paleolithic age. Excavations and surveys made by D.M. Robinson and the University of Michigan around Yalvaç in 1924 uncovered artifacts from surrounding mounds that date back to the 3rd millennium BC. In Antioch itself, no finds have emerged from the
Proto-Hittite,
Hittite,
Phrygian or
Lydian civilisations, but we know from
Hittite records that the region was named "
Arzawa" and that independent communities flourished in the region. These people did not come under the yoke of the Hittites, but fought beside them against the
Egyptians in the
Battle of Kadesh. Over the ages, people were able to live independently in the
Pisidian region because of its strategic position. Even the
Persians, who conquered
Anatolia in the 6th century BC and attempted to rule the area by dividing it into
satrapies, were unable to cope with constant uprisings and turmoil. The approach of some researchers who would like to connect the cult of Men Askaenos with the cult of the
Phrygian Mother Goddess
Cybele is controversial. The worship of
Cybele, traces of which can be seen in Antioch, is not a result of
Phrygian influence: the idea of a
Mother Goddess dates back to the
Neolithic age as is shown by idols and figurines exhibited in
Yalvaç Museum.
Hellenistic age After the death of
Alexander the Great,
Seleucus I Nicator, founder of the
Seleucid Dynasty, took control of Pisidia. Captured places were
Hellenised and, in order to protect the population, fortified cities were founded at strategically important places, usually on an
acropolis.
Seleucus I Nicator founded nearly 60 cities and gave to 16 of them the name of his father
Antiochus. Colonists were brought from
Magnesia on the Maeander to people the city of Pisidian Antioch (the Land of Antiochus). Meanwhile, fights for the sharing of
Anatolia continued, complicated by the arrival of
Galatians from Europe. The self-interested
Hellenistic dynasties could not expel the
Galatians from the interior, but
Antiochus I Soter fought against them in 270 BC in the
Taurus Mountains and defeated them by the help of elephants, which the
Galatians had never seen before. The historian
Lucian reported the comment of
Antiochos: "It's a great shame that we owe our liberation to 16 elephants". Anyway, Antiochos celebrated his victory when he returned to Syria and was given the title of "Soter" (Saviour). The most reasonable approach is that Antioch was founded by
Antiochus I Soter as a military base to control the Galatian attacks, because it was on the border of the regions of Pisidia and
Phrygia. The foundation of Antioch indicates a date of the last quarter of the 3rd century BC, but archeological finds at the Sanctuary of
Men Askaenos in the northeast date back to the 4th century BC. This indicates that there had been earlier classical cultures in the area.
Roman period While the Hellenistic Kingdoms (the inheritors of
Alexander the Great) were fighting each other and the Galatians,
Rome became the most powerful state in Europe and started to follow a policy of expansion to the east. The Romans invaded
Macedon,
Thrace, and the
Dardanelles, reaching
Phrygia via
Magnesia and Pisidia. They cowed the Galatians and according to the
treaty, signed in 188 BC in
Apamea, after they got the land of Pisidia from
Antiochos III, they gave it to their ally, the Kingdom of
Pergamon, the dominant power in the region.
Attalos III, the last king of
Pergamon, bequeathed his kingdom to Rome on his death in 133 BC. When
Aristonikos, a usurper who claimed the throne of Pergamon shortly after, was defeated in 129 BC, Rome annexed and populated Western Anatolia with its well-developed, creative culture, lasting for centuries. Although
Anatolia was dominated by the
Roman Empire as the
province of Asia, Pisidia was given to the Kingdom of
Cappadocia, which was an ally of Rome. During the ensuing years, the authority gap remained in these kingdoms so remote from central control, which led to the rise of powerful pirate kingdoms, especially in
Cilicia and Pisidia. The Romans were disturbed by these kingdoms and fought against them. By 102 BC, Cilicia,
Pamphylia,
Phrygia and Pisida had been freed from pirates and Roman rule was restored. The geographical and strategic position of the region made it difficult to control the area and maintain constant peace. The
Homonadesians settled in the
Taurus Mountains between
Attaleia and
Ikonion, which caused problems for Rome.
Marcus Antonius, who had to control the roads connecting Pisidia to Pamphylia, charged his allied king
Amyntas, King of Pisidia, to fight against Homonadesians, but Amyntas was killed during the struggle. That is when Rome started to colonize using retired
legionaries as a solution to the failure of the locally appointed governors. The province of
Galatia was established in 25 BC, and Antioch became a part of it. To support the struggle against the Homonadesians logistically, the construction of a road called the
Via Sebaste, the centre of which was Antioch, was started by the governor of the Province of Galatia,
Cornutus Arrutius Aquila. The Via Sebaste was separated into two and directed to the southwest and southeast to surround the Homonadesians. Secondary connecting roads were built between these two roads. Rome by means of the Via Sebaste
Publius Sulpicius Quirinius brought an end to the Homonadesians problem in 3 BC, relocating survivors in different surrounding locations. During the reign of
Augustus, among the eight colonies established in Pisidia, only Antioch was honoured with the title of
Caesarea and given the right of the
Ius Italicum, maybe because of its strategic position. The city became an important Roman colony. It rose to the position of a capital city with the name of "
Colonia Caesarea".
Hellenisation became Latinization during the Roman period, and it was most successful in Antioch. The city was divided into seven districts called "
vici" each of which was founded on one of the city's seven hills like the seven hills of Rome. The formal language was
Latin until the end of the 3rd century AD. The fertility of the land and the peace brought by
Augustus (
Pax Romana: Roman Peace) made it easier for the veterans as colonists in the area to have good relations and integration with the natives. One of the three surviving copies of the
Res Gestae Divi Augusti, the famous inscription recording the noble deeds of the Emperor Augustus, was found in front of the Augusteum in Antioch. The original was carved on bronze tablets and exhibited in front of the
Mausoleum of Augustus in
Rome, but unfortunately has not survived. The Antioch copy was inscribed in stone in Latin, a sign of the importance of the city as a military and cultural base of Rome in Asia. (One of the copies, in
Greek and
Latin, is in
Ankara, the other, in Greek, in Apollonia -Uluborlu).
Early Christian-Byzantine period Paul the Apostle and
Barnabas, as recounted in the
Acts of the Apostles, visited Antioch of Pisidia in the course of Paul's first missionary journey, and Paul's sermon in the Jewish synagogue there caused a great stir among the citizens, but the ensuing conflict with the Jews led to the expulsion of the two Christian missionaries from the city. They returned later and appointed elders for the Christian community there. Paul also visited the region in both his second and his third journeys. Paul's "persecutions and sufferings" at Antioch are spoken of in . In the 6th century the city of Antioch, which had been ranked as a
Roman colonia an outpost established in conquered territory to secure it, lost its strategic importance and, as it was off the main trade route, it started to lose importance more generally.
Bishopric Amid the remains of ancient Antioch, beneath a ruined
Byzantine church, which claims to mark the location of Paul's synagogue sermon, archaeologists have uncovered a first-century building that may have been that synagogue. As capital of the
Roman province of
Pisidia, Antioch was a
metropolitan see. The
Notitia Episcopatuum of Pseudo-Epiphanius, composed during the rule of
Byzantine Emperor Heraclius in about 640, lists as its
suffragan sees:
Philomelium,
Sagalassos,
Sozopolis in Pisidia,
Apamea Cibotus, Tyriacum,
Baris in Pisidia,
Hadrianopolis in Pisidia,
Limnae,
Neapolis,
Laodicea Combusta,
Seleucia Ferrea, Adada, Zarzela,
Tymbrias, Tymandus,
Justinianopolis in Pisidia, Metropolis in Pisidia, and Pappa. There is evidence that Prostanna and Atenia were also suffragans of Antioch. In the
Notitia Episcopatuum attributed to
Leo V the Wise, Neapolis, which had become a metropolitan see, Philomelium, and Justinianopolis have been removed from the list of suffragans of the suffragans of Antioch, but
Binda, Conana,
Parlais, Malus,
Siniandus, and Tityassus are added.
Ancient Bishopric Michel LeQuinn lists 30 known bishops for the bishopric up to his time. • Eudoxius • Optatus • Anthimus • Cyprian • Sergianus
fl 314 • Antonius • Optimus • Tranquillinus fl 431 • Erechthius • Candidianus fl 449 • Pergamius • John • Polydectus (
Synod of Constantinople) • Bacchus fl 536 • Theodorus • Stephen • George • Basil • Gregory • Zacharias • Theophylactus fl 997 • Macarius • Eleutherius • Michael fl 1141 • Unknown bishop at the Synod of Constantinople of 1156-57 • Macarius II (under the emperors
Michael VIII or
Michael IX Palaiologos) • Methodius • Cosmas fl 1721
Titular Catholic Diocese With the advance of
Islam, Antiochia in Pisidia ceased to be a residential bishopric, and is today listed by the
Catholic Church as a
titular see.
Known Bishops Antiochia in Pisidia • Enrico de Rossi (12 Jun 1893 Appointed - 1897) • Leopoldo Franchi (11 Feb 1898 Appointed - 16 Oct 1902) • Pietro Monti (30 Dec 1902 Appointed - 24 Jun 1909 Died) • Angelo Giacinto Scapardini (10 Sep 1910 Appointed - 23 Sep 1910 Appointed, Titular Archbishop of Damascus) • Charles-François Turinaz (1 Aug 1913 Appointed - 19 Oct 1918) • Giovanni Volpi (3 Jul 1919 Appointed - 19 Jun 1931) • Gustavo Matteoni (3 Mar 1932 Appointed - 29 Sep 1932) • Filippo Bernardini (13 Mar 1933 Appointed - 26 Aug 1954) • José María Bueno y Monreal (27 Oct 1954 Appointed - 8 Apr 1957) • Fermín Emilio Lafitte (20 Jan 1958 Appointed - 25 Mar 1959) • Francisco de Assis Pires (11 Jul 1959 Appointed - 10 Feb 1960) •
Corrado Bafile (13 Feb 1960 Appointed - 24 May 1976)
Muslim invasions The
Byzantine Empire directed its economic, political and military power to the southeast because the warriors of a new religion from the
Arab Peninsula were invading the farthest borders of the Empire. The Arab raids from the sea and land weakened the empire, besieging the capital city
Constantinople several times. Anatolian cities were damaged by these raids, and they began to be abandoned. In the 8th century the raids increased. The fiercest attack of all against Antioch was conducted in 713 by the
Umayyad prince
al-Abbas ibn al-Walid, the son of Caliph
al-Walid I. Antioch never recovered and centuries of glory vanished. After Antioch was visited by crusaders, a new people appeared in the 11th century: the
Seljuk Turks, who captured the area and founded the Anatolian Seljuk Empire (Sultanate) in Central Anatolia. Until the 12th century Antioch was a base where soldiers stopped for a rest, constantly changing hands. On 11 September 1176, the armies of the Byzantine Empire and the
Seljuk Sultanate met at
Myriokephalon (thousand heads). Its exact location is unknown, but it is widely accepted that it was somewhere near Yalvaç. Sultan Kılıçarslan won the battle against
Manuel I Comnenus. The Turks settled in the valley instead of on the acropolis. Because they controlled the whole of central
Anatolia, they did not need defensive walls, and the valley was very suitable for agriculture. They did not change the names of most of the captured cities, but the name of Antioch was forgotten and, with no Christians left in the region, they named it "Yalvaç" which means "
Prophet", perhaps a reference to Saint Paul.
Archaeology Francis Vyvyan Jago Arundell,
British chaplain at
İzmir between 1822 and 1834, was the first person to identify and study the city. In 1828 he published the record of his first journey to inner
Anatolia made in 1826 as
A visit to the seven Churches of Asia. His notes after his second journey in 1833 were published the following year in London under the title
Discoveries in Asia Minor: including a description of the ruins of several ancient cities and especially Antioch of Pisidia. W. J. Hamilton came to the region, passing over the
Sultan Mountains and observed the
aqueducts, bath, and great
basilica. His notes were published in 1842 as "Researches in Asia Minor, Pontus, Armenia". He was followed at different periods by noted explorers of the 19th century such as
Tchihatcheff, Laborde, Ritter, Richter, but none of them have the power of Arundell's detailed study, until Ramsay.
William Mitchell Ramsay, who devoted 50 years of his life to the historical geography of
Asia Minor, made his first journey to
Anatolia in 1880. Together with
J. R. S. Sterrett he embarked on two journeys studying inscriptions which provided detailed historical information. On both journeys they visited Antioch. In the same period Weber concentrated his studies on aqueducts, examining the water system and identifying the monumental fountain. The results of Ramsay's studies up to 1905 were published in 1907 as
The Cities of St. Paul. Their influence on his Life and Thought. In 1911 Ramsay and his wife
W. M. Calder, along with
M. M. Hardie, made camp in Antioch and started to study the area systematically. Calder and Hardie explored the
Sanctuary of Men Askaenos which is on
Karakuyu Hill 5 km to the southeast of Antioch. The following year, excavations were made under the direction of Ramsay, supported by
Princeton University. During these excavations up to 1914, some important buildings were discovered in and around the city. In 1914 one of the breathtaking finds of archaeology, the "
Res Gestae Divi Augusti", appeared as fragments in front of the Imperial Sanctuary. After a compulsory break during
World War I, Ramsay returned in 1923. In 1924 a major expedition was mounted by
Francis Kelsey of the
University of Michigan which included Ramsay. The excavations were under the direction of D.M. Robinson, employing at times over 200 men from Yalvaç. The team exposed the
Great Basilica,
Tiberia Platea,
Propylon and the monumental western gate. Then after only one year of excavation, the work of the Michigan group ceased due to a bitter quarrel between Ramsay and Robinson. The only person who might have had the authority to resolve matters was Kelsey, and he died in 1927. Ramsay visited again between 1925 and 1927 but without any major results. No further studies were made until the 1960s. During this long interval, local natives carried off many of the architectural blocks from these major buildings to use in the construction of modern Yalvaç. By the early 1960s, when Yalvaç Museum was about to be built, Antioch had become buried again. In 1962 M. H. Ballance and A. Frazer conducted a detailed survey. K. Tuchelt came to the city in 1976 and caused some new arguments about the Imperial Sanctuary. Stephen Mitchell and Marc Waelkens conducted a survey and documentation of Antioch between 1982 and 1983. Using their discoveries and drawing from earlier studies, especially those of the University of Michigan in 1924, they subsequently brought together all the available information about the city, supported with new finds, in a book entitled "Pisidian Antioch" (1998). Today's Antioch is studied by Dr. Mehmet Taşlıalan, Director of Yalvaç Museum (1979–2002), and Tekin Bayram, Mayor of Yalvaç. Taşlıalan wrote his Ph.D. thesis on the Imperial Sanctuary and described the building others called the Great Basilica as the Church of St.Paul.
Acropolis and fortifications The city, like other Hellenistic colonies, was founded on a hill for ease of defense. The steep valley of the
River Anthius in the east provides a perfect defense. On the other slopes the acropolis goes up smoothly in terraces, reaching a height of 60 meters above the plain. It is not known whether the bastions of semi-circular plan, which can be seen in the West, continue in other parts of the defensive walls. The city is surrounded by re-used blocks made of mainly local, grey limestone. The massive blocked wall structure of the earlier phases are different from the mortared Byzantine-Early Christian walls. No clear evidence of defensive towers has yet been found. Curved semi-circular walls in the south and north would have made it easier to defend the fortifications. The defensive system, when the masonry of the walls is considered, is very similar to the neighbouring colonies
Cremna,
Sagalassos and even
Aphrodisias in
Caria. Most of the walls and defensive system are from the 4th century CE. Other buried entrances and fortifications datable back to the Hellenistic period will no doubt come to light as excavations continue. The acropolis was a defended space to which natives retreated during wartime or invasion: houses and farms however, were outside the walls. Especially in the west and east, on the slopes going down to the plain the remains of houses have been found. The location of the necropolis is not known, but pieces of sarcophagi, Phrygian door-tombstones and funeral inscriptions in the walls of the houses in the modern Kızılca Quarter are indications that the necropolis should be looked for nearby.
City plan Most of the city has not been excavated, leaving questions like, for example, the relationship between the
Theatre and the
Cardo Maximus not yet fully explained. Much is still buried under the hills in the potential excavation area of 800 by 1000 meters.
Electromagnetic studies in recent years have shown that the
Hippodamic plan with streets at right-angles was applied successfully like at Priene and Miletos. The city was divided by the streets into districts (
vicus, plural
vici). The names of the following vici are known from inscriptions: Venerius, Velabrus, Aediculus, Patricius, Cermalus, Salutaris and Tuscus, but their extent has yet to be established. One of the two principal streets is the Decumanus Maximus which starts from the Western City Gate and it is 90 x 320 m long. The other. the Cardo Maximus, is 400 m. long and starts from the Nympheum, crossing the Decumanus c. 70 m south of the
Tiberia Platea. On both sides of the streets are ruins dating back to the 1st–2nd centuries AD. The name Platea is used for large areas of street-squares surrounded by shops and porticos. In the eastern Roman provinces, the platea became colonnaded streets. The discovery of monumental buildings and especially of several
nympheums on both sides of these two colonnaded main streets prove that this was something which occurred in Antioch also.
Tour of Antioch after Ünal Demirer Arriving at Antioch from the west, visitors can see the fortifications and structures of various periods. Architectural fragments of the City Gate by the main street are awaiting re-erection. The road through the gate passes the ruins of the Waterfall and turns to the right at the beginning of the Decumanus Maximus, which has been excavated recently. In this street, one can see the damaged drainage system and wear from the wheels of vehicles, and after passing the Theatre, one turns left into the second important street, the Cardo Maximus. The Cardo leads the visitor to the Tiberia Platea and Central Church with buildings from later periods on either side. The remains of the 12 steps up to the monumental Propylon take one to the most impressive architectural structure which has survived from the earlier periods of Antioch: the Imperial Sanctuary-Augusteum. Going back to the Tiberia Platea and following the Cardo to the right will take one to the source of life of the city: the Nympheum. The aqueducts which can be seen behind the Nympheum brought fresh water from springs in the Sultan Mountains 11 km from the city over the centuries. The Bath which is some distance from the water source, is to the west of the Nympheum and is in good condition. On the way to the Great Basilica, which can be seen from any high point of the city, one can see the small valley created by the horseshoe shaped Stadion. The tour ends back at the Western Gate. ==City gate==