Al-Husn (, also spelled al-Hisn) is a large village in northwestern

Syria Syria, officially the Syrian Arab Republic, is a country in West Asia located in the Eastern Mediterranean and the Levant. It borders the Mediterranean Sea to the west, Turkey to Syria–Turkey border, the north, Iraq to Iraq–Syria border, t ...

, administratively part of the

Homs Governorate Homs Governorate ( / ALA-LC: ''Muḥāfaẓat Ḥimṣ'') is one of the fourteen Governorates of Syria, governorates (provinces) of Syria. It is situated in central Syria. Its geography differs in various locations in the governorate, from to . ...

, located west of

Homs Homs ( ; ), known in pre-Islamic times as Emesa ( ; ), is a city in western Syria and the capital of the Homs Governorate. It is Metres above sea level, above sea level and is located north of Damascus. Located on the Orontes River, Homs is ...

and north of the border with

Lebanon Lebanon, officially the Republic of Lebanon, is a country in the Levant region of West Asia. Situated at the crossroads of the Mediterranean Basin and the Arabian Peninsula, it is bordered by Syria to the north and east, Israel to the south ...

. Nearby localities include al-Huwash to the east, Anaz to the southeast, Aridah to the south, al-Zarah to the southwest,

Zweitina Zweitina or Zuwaytinah ( / ALA-LC: ''Zūwaytīnah'') is a small Greek Orthodox Christian village located in Western Syria close to the Lebanese borders and administratively belonging to the Homs Governorate. Its location in the midst of a conifer ...

to the west, al-Nasirah and

Marmarita Marmarita (, ) is a village in northwestern Syria, located west of Homs. Marmarita is one of the largest villages in Wadi al-Nasara ("Valley of the Christians"), a region north of Talkalakh. In 2004, Marmarita had a population of 2,206, accord ...

to the northwest, Muqlus to the north and Mazinah to the northeast. According to the Syria Central Bureau of Statistics (CBS), al-Husn had a population of 8,980 in the 2004 census. It is the largest village in the al-Huwash ''

nahiyah A nāḥiyah ( , plural ''nawāḥī'' ), also nahiyeh, nahiya or nahia, is a regional or local type of administrative division that usually consists of a number of villages or sometimes smaller towns. In Tajikistan, it is a second-level divisi ...

'' ("subdistrict"), which consisted of 19 localities with a collective population of 24,684 in 2004.General Census of Population and Housing 2004
Syria Central Bureau of Statistics (CBS). Homs Governorate. The inhabitants of the village are predominantly

Sunni Muslims Sunni Islam is the largest branch of Islam and the largest religious denomination in the world. It holds that Muhammad did not appoint any successor and that his closest companion Abu Bakr () rightfully succeeded him as the caliph of the Musli ...

, with a

Christian A Christian () is a person who follows or adheres to Christianity, a Monotheism, monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus in Christianity, Jesus Christ. Christians form the largest religious community in the wo ...

minority, in an area largely populated by Christians that is known as

Wadi al-Nasara Wadi al-Nasara ( / ALA-LC: ''Wādī an-Naṣārá'' "Valley of Christians") is an area in western Syria that administratively belongs to the Homs Governorate, governorate of Homs. Most people in the area are Antiochian Greek Christians, Greek O ...

("Valley of the Christians.") The village has a

Greek Catholic Church Greek Catholic Church or Byzantine-Catholic Church may refer to: * The Catholic Church in Greece * The Eastern Catholic Churches that use the Byzantine Rite, also known as the Greek Rite: ** The Albanian Greek Catholic Church ** The Belarusian Gre ...

. The village is built around the

Krak des Chevaliers Krak des Chevaliers (; , ; or , ; from , ) is a medieval castle in Syria and one of the most important preserved medieval castles in the world. The site was first inhabited in the 11th century by Kurds, Kurdish troops garrisoned there by ...

fortress (known as ''Qalʿet al-Husn'' in Arabic) and the name ''al-Husn'' means "the Castle." The modern village was founded when the inhabitants of the fortress were relocated to the village site by the French authorities excavating the fortress. The village has since developed with little civic planning, which has resulted in

urban sprawl Urban sprawl (also known as suburban sprawl or urban encroachment) is defined as "the spreading of urban developments (such as houses and shopping centers) on undeveloped land near a city". Urban sprawl has been described as the unrestricted ...

surrounding the fortress.Darke, 2006, pp. 198-199. In 2014 it was the site of a

battle A battle is an occurrence of combat in warfare between opposing military units of any number or size. A war usually consists of multiple battles. In general, a battle is a military engagement that is well defined in duration, area, and force co ...

of the Syrian Civil War.

References

Bibliography

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Huan Populated places in Talkalakh District