Antakya, Turkey – When Hasan Sivri was a high school student in Antakya’s Old City, he used to pass the Protestant church every day.

His route would often take him past other churches, mosques and a synagogue, too. Church bells mingled with the call to prayer, and the streets of the ancient city resounded with different languages – all serving as a timeless reminder of its vibrant cultural diversity.

“It was really unique and had a different atmosphere than other cities in Anatolia or Turkey,” Sivri, an Arab Alevi, told Al Jazeera. “It is known as a ‘city of peace’. So many friends of mine were from different ethnic, ideological and religious backgrounds.”

On February 6, two powerful earthquakes devastated swaths of southern Turkey and northwest Syria, killing more than 50,000 people and destroying tens of thousands of buildings.

Antakya, historically known as Antioch, was particularly hard-hit.

Sivri, now a 33-year-old freelance journalist living in the Turkish capital, Ankara, reached the Old City on the evening of February 6 and found much of it in ruins.

The minaret and dome of the centuries-old Habibi-i Neccar Mosque was a pile of rubble; the Greek Orthodox Church of Antioch had collapsed, thrusting its belfry into a neighbouring building and killing a resident; the city’s synagogue was scored by fissures; and the Protestant church was also in ruins.

“When I saw these buildings had collapsed, it made me feel like a part of my memories and my world had collapsed with them,” Sivri said.

In the following days and weeks, as rescue efforts ended, the Old City was largely abandoned. Those who remained were forced to pick precarious paths over mountains of rubble that blocked the narrow streets.

On the Sunday after the earthquake, about 10 members of the Protestant congregation gathered in front the rubble of their church to pray and sing hymns. They were still in shock.

Corc Kocamahhul said the building was about a century old and it had been used as a church since the year 2000.

“We never expected it could collapse, but unfortunately Antakya has disappeared and so has our church,” he said, becoming tearful as he talked about the city’s plight. “I hope we build this church again as soon as possible.”

But while the Turkish authorities say the restoration of Antakya’s historic buildings will start imminently, some are cautioning against a rush to rebuild the city’s heritage and warn that its distinctive character and communities are at risk of being lost forever.

Read the rest of the article published by Al Jazeera English here.