Christians in Turkey pray for return to the ruins of ancient Antioch

The Antioch Greek Orthodox Church brought Christians together in Turkey's Antakya for centuries until last year, when an earthquake killed dozens of them and sent hundreds more fleeing.

Though it now lies in ruins, many pray it will again bring them back.

"Our churches are levelled and our bell towers are silent," Fadi Hurigil, head of the Greek Orthodox Church Foundation of Antakya, said on Tuesday at a mass held for victims of the 7.8 magnitude quake that devastated southern Turkey and northwestern Syria on February 6 last year.

The deadliest disaster in modern Turkey's history, the quake killed more than 53,000 people in Turkey and nearly 6,000 in Syria, and left millions homeless. It also ravaged the rich cultural and religious heritage of Antakya, which was once called Antioch and founded in 300 BC by the Seleucid dynasty.

The ancient city, home to...