Antioch of Pisidia

AN-tee-ock of pih-SID-ee-uh · Modern Yalvaç, Isparta Province, Turkey · Also called Pisidian Antioch

Antioch of Pisidia is a city of the biblical world, known today as Yalvaç, Isparta Province, Turkey.

What is known

Where Paul delivered a major synagogue sermon on his first missionary journey, his first recorded sermon in Acts (Acts 13:14-41)
Paul and Barnabas were expelled from the region after the sermon stirred controversy, so they "shook the dust off their feet" (Acts 13:50-51)

History

Founded: Founded by Seleucid colonists, later refounded as a Roman colonia by Augustus
Population: Estimated 10,000–15,000 residents within the city proper in the 1st century AD, with the wider territory reaching toward 100,000
Coordinates: 38.3037° N, 31.1868° E

Rulers and powers

Roman colonia (Colonia Caesarea Antiochia), refounded by Augustus c. 25 BC and the leading city of southern Galatia province — the provincial capital was Ancyra (modern Ankara) — 1st century AD

Archaeology

Excavations near Yalvaç have exposed the Augustus Temple complex, a monumental nymphaeum, a Roman theater, and colonnaded streets. Beneath a later basilica, archaeologists identified a 1st-century structure widely interpreted as the synagogue where Paul preached in Acts 13, though this attribution rests on layout and location rather than an inscription naming it as such.

Remains of a semi-circular pool along the main street near the West Gate at Antioch of Pisidia — source & licence

Ruins of the 1st-century nymphaeum (monumental fountain) at Antioch of Pisidia — source & licence

Scripture references

Acts 13:14-52
Acts 14:19 — Persecutors from here followed Paul to Lystra

On a modern map

Antioch of Pisidia today

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