Antioch Part Two

The Museum Hotel in Antioch is a spectacular place– a hotel which was built over, and after the archaeologists finished their excavations of Roman villas and street which lay directly beneath the planned hotel.   Here first is an overview of the ancient city, which in Paul’s day had an island in the middle of the river, but not today. In the first century it was likely the third largest city in the Empire. But this city over the centuries has suffered various earthquakes, included a very major one in 526 A.D. about the same size as the one in Feb. 2023.

Here’s the exterior of the Museum hotel….

Since we have done blog posts on this museum before, here are just a few highlights from the mosaic floors…

Notice the ripple effect in the mosaic from the earthquake.

At the other end of the complex there was a Roman bath, and one can see the hypocast system columns that would heat up and produce stead in the caulderium.