The remains of the 6th-century Monastery of St Simeon sit atop a mountain 18km southwest of Antakya on the road to Samandağ. The cross-shaped monastery contains the ruins of three churches. Fragments of mosaics can be seen in the floor of the first (north) church, but the central Church of the Holy Trinity, is the most beautiful. The south church is more austere.
The monastery is currently closed to visitors for a restoration project that is unlikely to finish until 2017.
The site's most interesting item is the octagonal base of a pillar, atop which Saint Simeon Stylite the Younger (521–597), imitating a 5th-century Syrian predecessor deemed the 'Elder', would preach against the iniquities of Antioch.
