St Peter and Paul, Antakya's Christian Greek Orthodox Cathedral

Abstract

The first St Peter and Paul's cathedral in Antakya was built in 1833 after permission was granted by Ibrahim Pasha, the son of Egypt's Khedive Mohamed Ali Pasha, during the Egyptian occupation. It was built in the Cenine {garden} district in the Southern part of Antakya, where lived at that time many Greek Orthodox believers of the Patriarchate of Antioch. The cathedral belonged to the local Syrian-Greek architectural style but it was rather ordinary, and built mainly of wood. Between 1849 and 1852 it was restored by permission of the Ottoman Government and the garden in front of the entrance was enlarged.