Monastery of Saint Simeon Stylites the Younger

The Monastery of Saint Simeon Stylites the Younger (Turkish: Aziz Simon manastır) is a former Christian monastery that lies on a hill roughly 29 kilometres (18 miles) southwest of Antakya and six kilometres (3.7 miles) to the east of Samandağ, in the southernmost Turkish province of Hatay.

[1] The monastery sits on top of a hill called Saman Dağı (summit elevation: 479 m (1,572 ft)).

Ibn Butlan said of the monastery in the mid of the 11th century that its buildings occupied an area as large as half of Baghdad.

[3] The monastery was sacked in 1084 during the conquest of Antioch by Suleiman ibn Qutalmish, who attempted to expand his sphere of influence.

This led to the dispersal of many monks, such as the author Nikon who complained of the difficulty of maintaining contact with other monasteries under Seljuk occupation.