ANTAKYA, Turkey, Dec 25, 2025 (BSS/AFP) - Saint Peter's, one of the world's  oldest rock churches, is a sacred rallying point for the isolated Christians  still left in quake-hit Antakya in southeastern Turkey, the city known in  ancient times as Antioch. "Since the earthquake, our community has scattered," said worshipper Mari  Ibri. "Those who remain are trying to regroup. We each had our own church but, like  mine, they have been destroyed." The landscape around the cave remains scarred by the disaster nearly three  years ago, when two earthquakes devastated Hatay province on February 6, 2023  and its jewel, Antakya, the gateway to Syria. Sad fields of rubble and the silhouettes of cracked, abandoned buildings  still scar the city -- all enveloped in the ever-present grey dust. Since the earthquakes, Antakya city has emptied and the Christian community  has shrunk from 350 families to fewer than 90, Father Dimitri Dogum told AFP. "Before, Christmas at our house was grandiose," Ibri recalled. "Our churches were full. People came from everywhere." Ibri's own church in the city centre was rendered inaccessible by the  earthquakes. Now she and other worshippers gather at the cave on December 24 -- Christmas  Eve in some Christian calendars. It is here, they believe, that Peter, the disciple Jesus assigned to found  the Christian church, held his first religious service in the 1st century. The rock church was later enlarged and 11th-century crusaders added a pale  stone facade. It is now a museum, opened to the faithful only on rare occasions. Christmas Eve is one. The morning sun was still glowing red in the sky when Fadi Hurigil, leader of  Antakya's Orthodox Christian community, and his assistants prepared the  service. They draped the stone altar and unpacked candles, holy oil, chalices and  plastic chairs. Out in front they placed figurines of Christ and three saints near a bottle  of rough red wine, bread baskets and presents for the children. The sound system played a recording of the bells of Saint Peter and Paul  church, which now stands empty in Antakya city centre. "That was my church," said Ibri, crossing herself. "They recorded the peals." Around one hundred worshippers soon squeezed into the incense-filled cave and  at least as many congregated outside. A large police contingent looked on. Sniffer dogs had already inspected the  cave and esplanade. "It's normal," said Iliye, a 72-year-old from Iskenderun, 60 kilometres (40  miles) further north. "We're a minority. It's to protect us." The slow chanting of Orthodox hymns heralded the start of the two-hour  service, conducted entirely in chants sung in Arabic and Turkish by Dogum and  another cleric. "It's very moving for us to be here in the world's first cave church, where  the first disciples gathered," the priest said. "There used to be crowds here," he added. "In 2022, there were at least 750 people outside, Christians and non- Christians alike." Since the earthquakes, the gathering has been much smaller, although it is  now starting to grow again. At the end of the service, when Christmas carols fill the air, Dogum and  Hurigil cut a huge rectangular cake. The Nativity scene at its centre -- Mary, baby Jesus, the ox and the ass --  was edged with whipped cream. "There's the religious dimension but it's also important that people can  gather here again," a worshipper said. "After February 6, our fellow citizens scattered. But they're starting to  come back. We're happy about that."