Monastery of St. Simeon Stylites

The Monastery of St. Simeon stands on a hill about 479 metres high, on the border of Aknehir, between the Antakya–Samandağ road and the Asi (Orontes) river. Visitors reach it via Değirmenbaşı. Cut partly into the rock and partly built of dressed stone, it fills a rectangle of about 132 by 160 metres, ringed by two parallel walls.

It dates to the 6th century AD and is known as the place where Simeon of Antioch lived on top of a column for around forty years. Tradition says he came to the mountain as a boy after a strict religious upbringing, and his fame as a healer drew so many pilgrims that the hill was called the Mountain of Wonders. Sources give his arrival as 541 and his death as 592.

The complex is laid out in the shape of a cross. Within it stand three churches, a baptistery and an octagonal courtyard, and at the centre rises the base of Simeon's column. Cisterns, houses, a kitchen and storerooms survive around it. The monastery is on Türkiye's faith-tourism map.

It rewards visitors who like ruins with atmosphere and wide views.