Church of Saint Peter 3.63

The Church of Saint Peter (Aramaic: Knisset Mar Semaan Kefa, Turkish: Senpiyer Kilisesi, St. Peter's Cave Church, Cave-Church of St. Peter) near Antakya (Antioch), Turkey, is composed of a cave carved into the mountainside on Mount Starius with a depth of 13 m (42 ft.), a width of 9.5 m (31 ft.) and a height of 7 m (23 ft). This cave, which some believe was used by the very first Christians, is one of Christianity's oldest churches.History of congregation and church buildingSome people believe that the founding of the church in Antioch can be traced to the Biblical Acts of the Apostles (11:25-27), which relates that Barnabas travelled to Tarsus to bring Paul the Apostle there. They worked for a year with the nascent Christian community, and there adherents to the faith were called "Christians" for the first time. Christian tradition considers the apostle Peter to be the founder of the church of Antioch and the first priest of the Christian population established there; the Church of St. Peter is traditionally considered to be at the place where he first preached the Gospel in Antioch.