Ayntap

Ayntap is the capital city of the Gaziantep Province in Turkey. It is one of the oldest continually inhabited cities in the world. During crusades Ayntap was under the county of Edessa. In 1266 the king of the Armenian kingdom of Cilikia Hetum the first raided on Ayntap for two times but didn’t manage to concur it.  In the 13-14th centuries it was under the control of Egypt. In 1404 the army of Lenktemur destroyed the city. In 1516 Ayntap fell under the control of Turkey.
In 18th century the villages around Ayntap were Armenian-populated. In 20th century Ayntap had a population of 50000, 20000 of which were Armenians. There were 6 Armenian churches, one of which was St. Astvacacin Mother Church, which was built in 1873-93 by the architect Sargis Palyan. There were 17 collages and different cultural companies.