st pierre kilisesi

The renovations on the church are finished. It opened one month ago in January 2015. From viewing the earlier ire picture, the renovation was extensive. It's too bad they didn't do anything for the pathway to get to the figure of Charon. There is now a nice carpark and nice walkways up to the church.

That's important for all Christian people and all of the people to see i think.It takes you to old times and thinkings.

After walking from the Bazaar in 30 degree heat, I find out it still closed.The security guard told me it's closed for restoration and that he doesn't speak English. So I sat on the retaining wall in the shade to rest for a while before walking back into town. A small boy kept close by and he asked for money.After a while, the guard changed his mind and told me 2 minutes, no photos. He mentions it's closed for 2 years for restoration. I don't know if that means it will be closed for another 2 years or what.I was grateful but was disappointed and confused. I did not find any signs of work being done which would explain the closure.

Closed. We were able to get a few pictures from down the hill, but we were unable to go past the guard's station. The walk there from the center of town was delightful and the signs were easy to follow.

Sometimes the greatest legacy of the world would be at your side. But, you know you do not see this beautiful place. St Pierre Church a place like this. Place of pilgrimage for Christians.

We walked up to the church but as of 8 April 2014 it was still closed for what looks like major renovation with nothing to indicate when it will re open. You can see very little of the site from below so not really worth the walk at present.

The actual location is closed for rennovation but even just looking up to where the first Christian Church in the World is was breathtaking! To think that we walked up as far as they would let us and to know that we were stepping in the same places as described in religous text was very provoking.

Just to confirm it is still closed and August is still expected opening date so its difficult to expand much more to make up 100 character s

Said to be the first Christian church made by St. Peter. It’s built into a hillside cave. The cave opening is large and the church was created by enclosing the entrance of the cave with a stone wall. They adorned the wall with star shaped windows and arches. Inside there are stability arches, and a chair and table carved from stone. The floor shows the remains of a once beautiful mosaic. In the back right is a small hollow where water drops down and pools. This is said to be used as a type of baptismal. The back left has a walkway leading to an escape tunnel which climbs up and out of the church. When walking around the hillside it looks littered with small tunnels and caves, and a few cut-outs which look like necropolises. The church has a visitor center which is where you pay your entrance fee of 5 Lira each, there is a gift shop, bathrooms, and snack bar. There is a trail leading up the mountain to the left of the church. Following it will take you to a carving in the mountain rock. It’s a large carving of a man’s portrait, with a smaller person standing on his right shoulder. A lot of guides will say it’s a carving of Jesus. But I’ve researched it and found it to be “Charon” (the ferryman of hades in Greek Mythology). The smaller person, gazing over the city is thought to be Antiochus IV Epiphanes (175-164). Who contracted the carving to ward off the plague, thus they were trying to appease the ferryman…

This is the place where the Christianity was born as a religion literally. So, the spiritual meaning of the place is extreme and it has been for years one of the pilgrimage destinations for Christians. However, the remnants are almost non existent, it's a cave with very few aspects remaining from the early ages of the religion. Furthermore, the church is closed to visits until end of August 2013 due to renovations. So, during our visit, we could only see the gates and the cave tombs at the rocks. But the view of Antakya city from the hill where the church is located is very beautiful too.

Whether or not you accept/believe that this was one of the first Christian churches, it is an interesting bit of archaeology and architecture. Read a little of the reported history before going to help you understand what you're seeing. Most interesting to me was standing at the entrance door and looking back at the city seeing the minarets sticking up. It seems like Christianity and Islam have co-existed here for centuries and the locals don't seem to mind.

I went to Antioch of Acts 11 and Acts 13:1 just to get a good feeling of the First Century Church. I happened to be there on a Monday and this place was closed. So I just went till the gate and peeped inside. There is a fee for entry on the open days.

When you climb up the stairways to reach the entrance you see window-like holes in the mountain. When you get inside the church, you find a small hole (only one person can fit at once) at the back side which goes up; to the window-like area, which i think is a shelter or something. I've tried to climb up that way and reached to end of it as well. Unfortunately, after around 7 metres the way was blocked and could not proceed more. But still, it is a perfect place to visit.

A lot of history at the church. Very small and simple. Easy to visit. Note visitors must be able to climb steps to visit the church. Nice views of Antakya.

The church is a cave church and the facade of the cave dates 1000 years after it was used by early Christians. Barnabas and Paul the Apostle from Tarsus are believed to work here for Christian community, and there the converts were called Christians for the first time in history.