Antakya Hotels
|
  | |  |
Prey in the City of God
Entry 19 of 119 | show all | print this entry |
Theopolis. Founded as Antioch. It was the first city converted to Christianity, indeed, the city in which Christianity was christened, well, as "Christianity." It was renamed by St. Peter to Theopolis (city of God: theo=God, polis=city). The city is now known as Antakya. The first church ever is there. But it's little more than a cave in the side of a cliff: one enlarged to the size of half a tennis court, one lacking in any real decoration, such as finished walls or a finished floor. Inside there is an altar placed in the 19th century, and a basin into which drips water off of the cave's ceiling. In one corner there is a little, now-blocked up passage, which used to be an escape route, back when the faith was illegal. At many times in those early days, a Christian did not want to get caught by the authorities. Punishment varied but it was always cruel and unusual.
I do wish there was more to say about the cave. Its fourth wall was a facade built by the crusaders, who also enlarged the cave to its current preportions. When St. Peter, was there, it would have looked quite different, I imagine. Perhaps more subtle, fitting a persecuted Church. Today the entire site is visible from a distance - particularly because there is a 12' wall around it. The wall has only one gate, where the Turks charge an extortionate entry for this holy site. I really think that the Turkish goverment looks upon tourists as revenue much like a lion looks upon zebra as dinner.
I spent the better part of an hour inside. The silence of the cave was broken by a Swede who came in and said hello to me. She then did a fairly sensible thing, really. She gave the cave the quick peek it deserves and went along her way to see the rest of the world. Meanwhile, I pondered Christianity through the ages, and wondered how a pilgrimage to this nook could give the sort of salvation that the Vatican said it did in 1963. I came to realise that one shouldn't dwell on these things for too long. I walked on.
But before I move on in this narration, I may as well something about Antakya. For the city's historic value, the city that was also once the 3rd largest in the Roman Empire, it isn't that special today. It's a bit cheaper than the rest of Turkey, and accordingly a little further gone to seed. There are two sides to the city, really. It's divided in the middle by a river. On one side, it is not very well maintained. On the other it is a bit more prosperous. It has mosques and kebap stores, worn out telephone booths and everyone has a cell phone. The roofs are covered with solar power generators and it rains on this city too. Yes, it is like any other city. I don't suppose it matters how one feels about that. It's the way it is.
Antakya does have an excellent museum. It doesn't have a plethora of statues, but it has dozens of mosaics that have been transferred from ruined houses all over the region of the Hatay (the name of this administrative district in Turkey). The mosaics were reconstructed on the walls of the museum: There are the usual geometric patterns, but there are some gorgeous depictions of people and animals. A number of apparently prominent women had their busts rendered in large proportions, two or three times life-size (not their breasts - I don't think those last as long as these busts do). By making a face larger in a mosaic, it can show more detail.
The mosaic creators even managed to show a depth of field by their arrangements of the pebbles in creations of multiple subjects in a mosaic, such as battles between man and beast. The detail is such that, from even as near as 5' away, the portraits of these long dead people look as vivid as life. Sometimes I forget that in museums I am peering at relics of people so long dead. Some of these curators manage to polish up the stone art to make one think it was carved or placed last year. In this sort of context, a mosaic is a respectable artistic medium: a far cry from a pool-side pattern in blue and white.
And I've decided to go to Syria. I looked into the safety issue and it is really a non-starter. My next post will be from Syria (where I am now, actually) but it may be a couple of days before I get to it. Nevertheless this country is as safe as anywhere and I cannot wait to describe to you how cheap it is. A taste of what's to come. One example: a three and a half hour train ride cost me 91 cents.
|
|
If you like this entry, search for other entries from Turkey or try a new search. |
| |
Back to Entry - Back to Home
|
16 votes 
