ST. PIERRE CHURCH

It is located near Habib-i Neccar Mountain on Antakya-Reyhanli road, two kilometers away from the city. It is a natural cave and converted into a church with additions. The exact construction date is unknown; It is believed that St. Peter, one of the twelve apostles of Jesus, was the first  place to preach and that the congregation was called Christian for the first time in the cave. Therefore, St. St. Pierre Church is known as the first church of Christianity.

The cave, became a gothic church with the additions made after Christianity, was accepted as official religion by the Roman State. With the adoption of St. Peter as the first Pope, it became the center of the spread of the Catholic faith to the world.

The cave has a destroyed mosaic floor dating to the 4th and 5th centuries AD.  There is also an altar, the sculpture of St. Pierre in a niche, water, which is considered sacred, and a secret escape tunnel for the congregation during an attack. It was in 1983 declared by Pope Paul VI a place of pilgrimage for Christians.  Every year on June 29th, the Catholic Church holds a ceremony here.