Al-Suqaylabiyah ( ar, السقيلبيه, As Suqailabiya) is a

Greek Orthodox Christian The term Greek Orthodox Church (Greek: Ἑλληνορθόδοξη Ἐκκλησία, ''Ellinorthódoxi Ekklisía'', ) has two meanings. The broader meaning designates "the entire body of Orthodox (Chalcedonian) Christianity, sometimes also call ...

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 loc ...

city A city is a human settlement of notable size.Goodall, B. (1987) ''The Penguin Dictionary of Human Geography''. London: Penguin.Kuper, A. and Kuper, J., eds (1996) ''The Social Science Encyclopedia''. 2nd edition. London: Routledge. It can be def ...

administratively belonging to

Hama Governorate Hama Governorate ( ar, مُحافظة حماة / ALA-LC: ''Muḥāfaẓat Ḥamā'') is one of the 14 Governorates of Syria, governorates of Syria. It is situated in western-central Syria, bordering Idlib Governorate, Idlib and Aleppo Governorates ...

. Al-Suqaylabiyah is located at a height of 220 meters above

sea level Mean sea level (MSL, often shortened to sea level) is an average surface level of one or more among Earth's coastal bodies of water from which heights such as elevation may be measured. The global MSL is a type of vertical datuma standardised g ...

. According to the 2004 official census, the town has a population of 17,313.

History

The name goes back to the ancient

Seleucia ad Belum Seleucia ( grc-gre, Σελεύκεια, ''Seleukeia''), distinguished as Seleucia-near-Belus ( grc-gre, Σελεύκεια πρὸς Βήλῳ, ''Seleúkeia pròs Bḗlōi'', Ptolemy, ''Geography'', Bk. 5, Ch. 14, §12. or , ''pròs tôi ...

, a town of

Hellenistic In Classical antiquity, the Hellenistic period covers the time in Mediterranean history after Classical Greece, between the death of Alexander the Great in 323 BC and the emergence of the Roman Empire, as signified by the Battle of Actium in ...

foundation that was located almost at the same place. The site was given up during the

Middle Ages In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire a ...

and repopulated at the beginning of the 19th century. In 1860 local

Bedouin The Bedouin, Beduin, or Bedu (; , singular ) are nomadic Arab tribes who have historically inhabited the desert regions in the Arabian Peninsula, North Africa, the Levant, and Mesopotamia. The Bedouin originated in the Syrian Desert and A ...

tribes attacked al-Suqaylabiyah.Douwes, 2000, p. 38. In July 2020, the

Syrian government Government of the Syrian Arab Republic is the union government created by the constitution of Syria where by the president is the head of state and the prime minister is the head of government. Executive power is exercised by the government. Syr ...

announced a plan to build a replica of the

Hagia Sophia Hagia Sophia ( 'Holy Wisdom'; ; ; ), officially the Hagia Sophia Grand Mosque ( tr, Ayasofya-i Kebir Cami-i Şerifi), is a mosque and major cultural and historical site in Istanbul, Turkey. The cathedral was originally built as a Greek Ortho ...

in Al-Suqaylabiyah with

Russian Russian(s) refers to anything related to Russia, including: *Russians (, ''russkiye''), an ethnic group of the East Slavic peoples, primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries *Rossiyane (), Russian language term for all citizens and peo ...

assistance as a reaction to its transformation into a mosque by

Turkish Turkish may refer to: *a Turkic language spoken by the Turks * of or about Turkey ** Turkish language *** Turkish alphabet ** Turkish people, a Turkic ethnic group and nation *** Turkish citizen, a citizen of Turkey *** Turkish communities and mi ...

authorities.

References

Bibliography

* Cities in Syria Populated places in al-Ghab Plain Populated places in al-Suqaylabiyah District Eastern Orthodox Christian communities in Syria Christian communities in Syria {{HamaSY-geo-stub