Antiochia ad Cragum Castle

Antiochia ad Cragum was founded around 42 AD by Antiochos IV, the last king of Commagene, after Rome granted him this stretch of coastline in the rugged region once called Mountain Cilicia, near present-day Gazipaşa in Antalya province. The city spread across three hills falling steeply toward the Mediterranean; its upper section held a triumphal arch, a colonnaded street, baths, an agora and churches, while a necropolis occupied the middle slopes. The castle that gives the site its modern name occupies the lowest, seaward section, its medieval walls built directly onto the steep rocks above the water in a position that watched over the harbor below. Archaeologists have been excavating Antiochia ad Cragum since 2005, uncovering mosaics, a monumental gate and a bath complex alongside the castle remains, revealing a settlement that endured from the Roman through the Byzantine period.