Bani Qahtan Castle
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Bani Qahtan Castle
Bani Qahtan castle ( ar, قلعة بني قحطان) is found in the Syrian Coastal Mountains, about 40 km from Latakia city. History The castle which was known as Bikisrail, was controlled by Byzantine doux of Antioch, Niketas of Mistheia, in 1032. It was later captured by Crusaders led by Tancred in 1111. The castle was later mentioned as being a stronghold in the hands of Nizari Ismaili in 1131, who surrendered it to Saladin in 1188. Structure The castle is totally damaged and not much remained from it, as its ruins are dated back to the 12th century. It is reached by car road through Baniyas-Jableh ) , settlement_type = City , motto = , image_skyline = Jableh Collage.jpg , imagesize = 250px , image_caption = General view of city and port • Roman Amphitheater• A ... road from west. External walls are well preserved, which contain the whole massive of the castle. The castle is situated on a hi ...
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Latakia Governorate
Latakia Governorate, also transliterated as Ladhakia Governorate, ( ar, مُحافظة اللاذقية / ALA-LC: ''Muḥāfaẓat al-Lādhiqīyah'') is one of the 14 governorates of Syria. It is situated in western Syria, bordering Turkey's Hatay Province to the north, Idlib and Hama Governorates to the east, Tartus Governorate to the south, and the Mediterranean Sea to the west. Its reported area varies in different sources from to . The governorate has a population of 1,008,000 (2011 estimate). History The governorate was historically part of the Alawite State, which existed from 1920–1936.Longrigg, Stephen Hemsley. "Syria and Lebanon Under French Mandate." London: Oxford University Press, 1958. Tartus governorate was formerly included as part of Latakia, before being split off circa 1972. The region has been relatively peaceful during the Syrian civil war, being a generally pro-Assad region that had largely remained under government control. The Free Syrian Army atta ...
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Syria
Syria ( ar, سُورِيَا or سُورِيَة, translit=Sūriyā), officially the Syrian Arab Republic ( ar, الجمهورية العربية السورية, al-Jumhūrīyah al-ʻArabīyah as-Sūrīyah), is a Western Asian country located in the Eastern Mediterranean and the Levant. It is a unitary republic that consists of 14 governorates (subdivisions), and is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to the west, Turkey to the north, Iraq to the east and southeast, Jordan to the south, and Israel and Lebanon to the southwest. Cyprus lies to the west across the Mediterranean Sea. A country of fertile plains, high mountains, and deserts, Syria is home to diverse ethnic and religious groups, including the majority Syrian Arabs, Kurds, Turkmens, Assyrians, Armenians, Circassians, Albanians, and Greeks. Religious groups include Muslims, Christians, Alawites, Druze, and Yazidis. The capital and largest city of Syria is Damascus. Arabs are the largest ethnic group, and Mu ...
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Syrian Coastal Mountain Range
The Coastal Mountain Range ( ar, سلسلة الجبال الساحلية ''Silsilat al-Jibāl as-Sāḥilīyah'') also called Al-Anṣariyyah is a mountain range in northwestern Syria running north–south, parallel to the coastal plain.Federal Research Division, Library of Congress (2005"Country Profile: Syria"page 5 The mountains have an average width of , and their average peak elevation is just over with the highest peak, Nabi Yunis, reaching , east of Latakia. In the north the average height declines to , and to in the south. Name Classically, this range was known as the Bargylus; a name mentioned by Pliny the Elder. The el, Μπάργκυλος, Bargylus) had its roots in the name of an ancient city-kingdom called Barga most probably located in the vicinity of the mountains; it was a city of the Eblaite Empire in the third millennium BC, and then a vassal kingdom of the Hittites, who named the mountain range after Barga. In the medieval period were known as the Jabal Ba ...
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Latakia
, coordinates = , elevation_footnotes = , elevation_m = 11 , elevation_ft = , postal_code_type = , postal_code = , area_code = Country code: 963 City code: 41 , geocode = C3480 , blank_name = Climate , blank_info = Csa , blank_name_sec2 = International airport , blank_info_sec2 = Bassel Al-Assad International Airport , timezone = EET , utc_offset = +2 , timezone_DST = EEST , utc_offset_DST = +3 , blank1_name = , blank1_info = , website eLatakia, footnotes = Latakia or Lattakia ( ar, ٱللَّاذْقِيَّة/ ٱللَّاذِقِيَّة, '; Syrian pronunciation: ) is the principal port city of Syria and capital city of the Latakia Governorate located on the Mediterranean coast. Historically, it has also been known ...
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Antioch
Antioch on the Orontes (; grc-gre, Ἀντιόχεια ἡ ἐπὶ Ὀρόντου, ''Antiókheia hē epì Oróntou'', Learned ; also Syrian Antioch) grc-koi, Ἀντιόχεια ἡ ἐπὶ Ὀρόντου; or Ἀντιόχεια ἡ ἐπὶ Δάφνῃ "Antioch on Daphne"; or "Antioch the Great"; la, Antiochia ad Orontem; hy, Անտիոք ''Antiokʽ''; syr, ܐܢܛܝܘܟܝܐ ''Anṭiokya''; he, אנטיוכיה, ''Anṭiyokhya''; ar, أنطاكية, ''Anṭākiya''; fa, انطاکیه; tr, Antakya. was a Hellenistic, and later, a Biblical Christian city, founded by Seleucus I Nicator in 300 BC. This city served as the capital of the Seleucid Empire and later as regional capital to both the Roman and Byzantine Empire. During the Crusades, Antioch served as the capital of the Principality of Antioch, one of four Crusader states that were founded in the Levant. Its inhabitants were known as ''Antiochenes''; the city's ruin lies on the Orontes River, near Antakya, the ...
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Niketas Of Mistheia
Niketas of Mistheia was a Byzantine official, originally from Mistheia, and '' doux'' of Antioch (1030–1032). He was an eunuch who held the titles of ''patrikios'' and ''rhaiktor''. Career In 1030, Byzantine Emperor Romanos III Argyros appointed Niketas as ''katepano'' of Antioch, following the Battle of Azaz against the Mirdasid dynasty. Later on, he managed to force a coalition of Arab tribes led by Nasr ibn Musharraf al-Rawadifi to withdraw from besieging Maraclea. He then sacked 'Irqa and destroyed the village of Kurin. In December of the same year, the Byzantine generals Niketas of Mistheia and Symeon the ''protovestiarios'' besieged and captured Azaz, and burned Tubbal. In 1031, he took Balatunus from Banu al-Ahmar, some forts from Banu Ghannaj and Ibn al-Kashih, but failed to seize the fortress of Maniqa, as al-Rawadifi managed to burn their siege equipment. However, he re-sacked 'Irqa, taking many prisoners and cattle. He later organized another campaign to recapt ...
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Tancred, Prince Of Galilee
Tancred (1075 – December 5 or December 12, 1112) was an Italo-Norman leader of the First Crusade who later became Prince of Galilee and regent of the Principality of Antioch. Tancred came from the house of Hauteville and was the great-grandson of Norman lord Tancred of Hauteville. Biography Early life Tancred was a son of Emma of Hauteville and Odo the Good Marquis. His maternal grandparents were Robert Guiscard and Guiscard's first wife Alberada of Buonalbergo. Emma was also a sister of Bohemond I of Antioch. First Crusade In 1096, Tancred joined his maternal uncle Bohemond on the First Crusade, and the two made their way to Constantinople. There, he was pressured to swear an oath to Byzantine Emperor Alexius I Comnenus, promising to give back any conquered land to the Byzantine Empire. Although the other leaders did not intend to keep their oaths, Tancred refused to swear the oath altogether. He participated in the siege of Nicaea in 1097, but the city was taken by Alexius' ...
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Nizari Ismaili
The Nizaris ( ar, النزاريون, al-Nizāriyyūn, fa, نزاریان, Nezāriyān) are the largest segment of the Ismaili Muslims, who are the second-largest branch of Shia Islam after the Twelvers. Nizari teachings emphasize independent reasoning or ''ijtihad''; pluralism—the acceptance of racial, ethnic, cultural and inter-religious differences; and social justice. Nizaris, along with Twelvers, adhere to the Jaʽfari school of jurisprudence. The Aga Khan, currently Aga Khan IV, is the spiritual leader and Imam of the Nizaris. The global seat of the Ismaili Imamate is in Lisbon, Portugal. Early history Nizari Isma'ili history is often traced through the unbroken hereditary chain of guardianship, or ''walayah'', beginning with Ali Ibn Abi Talib, who was declared Muhammad's successor as Imam during the latter's final pilgrimage to Mecca, and continues in an unbroken chain to the current Imam, Shah Karim Al-Husayni, the Aga Khan. Fatimid usurpation, schism, and the ...
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Saladin
Yusuf ibn Ayyub ibn Shadi () ( – 4 March 1193), commonly known by the epithet Saladin,, ; ku, سه‌لاحه‌دین, ; was the founder of the Ayyubid dynasty. Hailing from an ethnic Kurdish family, he was the first of both Egypt and Syria. An important figure of the Third Crusade, he spearheaded the Muslim military effort against the Crusader states in the Levant. At the height of his power, Ayyubid territorial control spanned Egypt, Syria, Upper Mesopotamia, the Hejaz, Yemen, the Maghreb, and Nubia. Alongside his uncle Shirkuh, a military general of the Zengid dynasty, Saladin was sent to Egypt under the Fatimid Caliphate in 1164, on the orders of Nur ad-Din. With their original purpose being to help restore Shawar as the to the teenage Fatimid caliph al-Adid, a power struggle ensued between Shirkuh and Shawar after the latter was reinstated. Saladin, meanwhile, climbed the ranks of the Fatimid government by virtue of his military successes against Crusader assault ...
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Baniyas
Baniyas ( ar, بَانِيَاس ') is a Mediterranean coastal city in Tartous Governorate, northwestern Syria, located south of Latakia (ancient Laodicea) and north of Tartous (ancient Tortosa). It is known for its citrus fruit orchards and its export of wood. North of the city is an oil refinery, one of the largest in Syria, and a power station. The oil refinery is connected with Iraq with Kirkuk–Baniyas pipeline (now defunct). On a nearby hill stands the Crusader castle of Margat (Qalaat el-Marqab), a huge Knights Hospitaller fortress built with black basalt stone. History In Phoenician and Hellenistic times, it was an important seaport. Some have identified it with the Hellenistic city of Leucas (from colonists from the island Lefkada), in Greece, mentioned by Stephanus of Byzantium. It was a colony of Aradus, Strabo, ''Geographica'', 16.2.12Greek sourcean and was placed by Stephanus in the late Roman province of Phoenicia, though it belonged rather to the provinc ...
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Jableh
) , settlement_type = City , motto = , image_skyline = Jableh Collage.jpg , imagesize = 250px , image_caption = General view of city and port • Roman Amphitheater• Al-Baath Stadium • Entrance of Roman Theater• Landscape of Jableh • Port , image_flag = , flag_size = , image_seal = , seal_size = , image_shield = , shield_size = , image_blank_emblem = , blank_emblem_type = , blank_emblem_size = , image_map = , mapsize = , map_caption = , image_map1 = , mapsize1 = , map_caption1 = , image_dot_map = , dot_mapsize = , dot_map_caption = , dot_x = , dot_y = , pushpin_map = Syria#Mediter ...
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