Attalia

Attalia was a seaport city on the southern coast of Asia Minor in the ancient region of Pamphylia, situated where the Catarrhactes River (modern Karpuz Çayı) meets the Mediterranean. It was founded in the second century BC by Attalus II Philadelphus, king of Pergamon (reigned 159–138 BC), who gave it his name. The city's naturally sheltered harbor made it the principal port of Pamphylia and the gateway to the interior of Asia Minor, and it functioned as a major hub of eastern Mediterranean trade throughout the Roman period.

Attalia appears in Scripture in the account of Paul and Barnabas's first missionary journey. After completing their preaching in Perga in Pamphylia, "they went down to Attalia, and from there they sailed to Antioch" (Acts 14:25–26). The city thus served as the point of embarkation for their return voyage to Syrian Antioch, where they reported to the church that had commissioned them and gave thanks for all that God had done. The modern city of Antalya, Turkey, stands on the same site, preserving in slightly modified form the ancient name, making Attalia one of the most directly identifiable New Testament locations in the present-day landscape.