Earthquake devastates Antioch

June 27, 1114

A pre-dawn tremor shattered the Seleucid capital turned Crusader stronghold. Walls collapsed, citadels tumbled, and thousands of the newly arrived Latin population died in their beds. The Frankish principality spent years rebuilding under the threat of Turkish raids. The earthquake also damaged the great church of St. Peter, traditionally held to be the first Christian cathedral in the world, and weakened fortifications that would prove critical in the decades to come.