Antakya

Antakya (Arabic: انطاكيا‎, Anṭākyā from Syriac: ܐܢܛܝܘܟܝܐ‎, Anṭiokia; Greek: Ἀντιόχεια, Antiócheia), is the seat of the Hatay Province in southern Turkey.

In ancient times, Antakya was known as Antioch, and was for centuries one of the largest cities in the Roman Empire. It was an influential early center of Christianity. It has a population of about 250,000. Most of the population speaks Turkish as their native language, while a minority are native Arabic speakers. Antakya is situated in a well-watered and fertile valley.

The area of Antioch has been occupied by humans since the Calcolithic era (6th millennium BC), as revealed by archeological excavations of the mound of Tell-Açana, among others.

The Greek King of Macedonia Alexander the Great, after defeating the Persians in the Battle of Issus in 333 BC, followed the Orontes south into Syria and occupied the area. The city of Antioch was founded by the Macedonian Greeks in 300 BC, after the death of Alexander, by the Seleucid King Seleucus I Nicator. It had an important role as one of the largest cities in the Greek (Macedonian) Empire, the Roman Empire and the Greek Eastern Roman Empire (Byzantium), and was a key location of the early years of Christianity, the Syriac Orthodox Church Antiochian Orthodox Church, the rise of Islam, and the Crusades.

In 637, during the reign of the Byzantine emperor Heraclius, Antioch was conquered by the Rashidun Caliphate during the Battle of the Iron Bridge. The city became known in Arabic as أنطاكيّة (Anṭākiyyah). Since theUmayyad dynasty was unable to penetrate the Anatolian plateau, Antioch found itself on the frontline of the conflicts between two hostile empires during the next 350 years, so that the city went into a precipitous decline.

In 969, the city was recovered for the Byzantine Emperor Nikephoros II Phokas by Michael Bourtzes and the stratopedarches Peter. It soon became the seat of a dux, who commanded the forces of the local themes and was the most important officer on the Empire's eastern border,^{[citation needed]} held by such men as Nikephoros Ouranos. In 1078, Philaretos Brachamios, an Armenian rebel seized power. He held the city until the Seljuk Turkscaptured it from him in 1084. The Sultanate of Rum held it only fourteen years before the Crusaders arrived.

ANTAKYA PRIVATE SECURITY COMPANY