17 September 2025 The Future is the Product of the Past

Roman-era chambers and clay offering vessels found in Antiocheia Ancient City, in southern Turkey

During excavations in southern Turkey’s ancient city of Antiocheia, archaeologists discovered late Roman-era chambers and clay offering vessels.

Antakya, better known in English as Antioch  (also officially known as Hatay), was first founded by Seleucus, one of the heirs to Alexander the Great’s vast empire around the year 300 BC. The city flourished and under the Romans became incredibly wealthy and influential.

The newly born religion of Christianity began to take root in the city during the Roman period, and it was in Antioch that the term “Christian” was first used to refer to followers of Jesus Christ.

A 12-person team led by the local archaeology museum began excavations around the Church of St. Pierre, a pilgrimage site for many Christians, on October 10 in the province of Hatay.

The excavations team conducts the first excavations of ancient city’s residential areas, says the local archeology museum head.

Archaeologists work on excavations at the ancient city of Antiocheia in Hatay, Türkiye. Photo: AA
Archaeologists work on excavations at the ancient city of Antiocheia in Hatay, Türkiye. Photo: AA

“During the excavations, we found rooms and many offering vessels belonging to the settlement from the late Roman era,” said Ayse Ersoy, head of the Hatay Archeology Museum.

Speaking to Anadolu Agency, Ersoy said: “We think that at that time, people who visited the church on pilgrimage bought offering vessels from here, and filled it with holy water in the Church of St. Pierre.”

The ancient city was situated on the foothills of Mount Starius, also known as Habib-i Neccar, and the Asi River, including the cave church, carved into the mountainside at the place where St. Pierre first preached, according to UNESCO.

These were the first scientific excavations in the residential areas of Antiocheia, noted Ersoy.

Clay offering vessels were discovered in excavations at the ancient city of Antiocheia in Hatay, Türkiye. Photo: AA Photo
Clay offering vessels were discovered in excavations at the ancient city of Antiocheia in Hatay, Türkiye. Photo: AA Photo

St. Pierre Church

St. Pierre, to whom the church is dedicated, is the founder of the Antakya Church, the archpriest of the first Christian community in the city, and the world’s first Pope. The St. Pierre church and its surroundings played an important role in the early Christian period and the spread of the faith.

The cave in which the church was constructed is the place St. Pierre firstly preached. Later it was turned to an official church.

The city of Antakya (Hatay) was one of the first places outside of Palestine where the Christian religion took root, and it is believed that this cave was once owned by St Luke the Evangelist (Gospel writer) and given to the young church in Antioch. According to tradition and two biblical passages (Acts 9:23, Galatians 2:11) it is said that Pierre, a disciple of Jesus himself, established the church here in Antioch which is where the name The Church of St. Pierre comes from. Antakya was also the home of a number of other influential saints from the earliest stages of the Christian faith such as St. Ignatius who was martyred in Rome in 110 AD.

Related Articles

Scotland’s Giant Neolithic Timber Hall Discovered—Built 1,000 Years Before Stonehenge

8 July 2025

8 July 2025

Archaeologists uncover one of the largest Neolithic timber halls in Scotland, revealing a long-lost site of prehistoric gatherings, rituals, and...

It may have been designed in Nevali Çori before Göbeklitepe was built

10 October 2021

10 October 2021

Göbeklitepe, Nevali Çori, Karahantepe, and Taştepeler, which will make us rethink what we know about human history, change the information...

10,500-year-old stone Age Hunter-Gatherer settlement found in England

20 January 2023

20 January 2023

A team of archaeologists from the University of Chester and Manchester has discovered a stone age Hunter-Gatherer settlement during excavations...

Climate and Archaic humans caused the extinction of giant camels that lived in Mongolia 27,000 years ago, a study says

3 April 2022

3 April 2022

Camelus knoblochi, a species of giant two-humped camel, survived in Mongolia alongside modern humans—and perhaps Neanderthals and Denisovans—until about 27,000...

2,700-year-old bronze figurine found in Germany’s Tollence River: goddess or weight?

9 April 2022

9 April 2022

A Bronze Age female figurine discovered in the Tollense River in northern Germany may have been a goddess, part of...

New research reveals that Baltic amber was transported to the most westerly region of the continent more than 5,000 years ago

21 October 2023

21 October 2023

A team of scientists has identified the oldest pieces of Baltic amber ever found on the Iberian Peninsula, revealing that...

Hunter-Gatherers Kept an ‘Orderly Home’ in the Earliest Known British Dwelling

25 July 2024

25 July 2024

Based on archaeological evidence from a Yorkshire site, new research suggests that hunter-gatherers probably kept an organized home with designated...

God Vishnumurthy Statue Found in a Well in Karnataka

28 February 2021

28 February 2021

A statue of the god Vishnumurthy dumped into a well was found near a destroyed Udupi temple in the state...

An 8500-year-old wooden ladder remain was discovered at Çatalhöyük

12 April 2022

12 April 2022

Remains of the wooden ladder were discovered for the first time in Çatalhöyük, one of the best-preserved Neolithic settlements in...

Megalithic structure found in Kazakhstan was probably a place of worship for miners in the Bronze Age

2 September 2024

2 September 2024

Archaeologists investigating a megalithic monument in the Burabay district of the Akmola region of Kazakhstan have revealed that the monument...

Archaeologists Discover Complete 13th-Century Rare Benahoarit Vase in Tijarafe Funerary Cave on La Palma

30 August 2025

30 August 2025

A remarkable archaeological discovery in Tijarafe, a municipality on the northwestern coast of La Palma in Spain’s Canary Islands, has...

Thousands of ignored ‘Nummi Minimi’ Coins Found in the Ancient City of Marea in Egypt

11 December 2023

11 December 2023

Numismatists from the Faculty of Archaeology at the University of Warsaw have examined thousands of previously ignored small coins (Nummi...

2,500-Year-Old Phoenician Shipwreck Being Rescued By Spanish Archaeologists

6 July 2023

6 July 2023

A 2,500-year-old Phoenician shipwreck has been found underwater in the southeastern Spanish region of Murcia. An extraordinary Phoenician shipwreck dating...

The First Native Americans were Among the First Metal Miners in the World

20 March 2021

20 March 2021

An arrowhead made of pure copper 8,500 years ago dates the history of the copper age to an earlier period,...

The 2000-year-old origin mystery of the Etruscans solved

25 September 2021

25 September 2021

A genetic analysis of DNA taken from ancient skeletons appears to have answered a conundrum that has captivated researchers for...