Qurfays ( ar, قرفيص, also spelled Qurfeis or Korfeis) is a village in northwestern

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 ...

, administratively part of the

Jableh District Jableh District ( ar-at, منطقة جبلة, manṭiqat Jablah) is a district of the Latakia Governorate in northwestern Syria. Administrative centre is the city of Jableh. At the 2004 census, the district had a population of 196,171. Agricultu ...

in the

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 ...

, located south of

Latakia , coordinates = , elevation_footnotes = , elevation_m = 11 , elevation_ft = , postal_code_type = , postal_code = , area_code = Country code: 963 City code: 41 , geocode ...

. Nearby localities include

Arab al-Mulk Arab al-Mulk ( ar, عرب الملك, also spelled Arab al-Milk, Beldi al-Melek, Balda al-Milk or Beldeh) is a coastal village in northwestern Syria, administratively part of the Jableh District in the Latakia Governorate, located south of Latakia ...

to the west,

Jableh ) , settlement_type = City , motto = , image_skyline = Jableh Collage.jpg , imagesize = 250px , image_caption = General view of city and port • Roman Amphitheater• Al ...

to the northwest, al-Aqibah and

al-Qutailibiyah Al-Qutailibiyah ( ar, القطيلبية, also spelled Kotailabiyah or Qutelbyeh) is a town in northwestern Syria, administratively part of the Jableh District in the Latakia Governorate, located south of Latakia. Nearby localities include Arab al- ...

to the northeast,

Sarabion Sarabion, also written as Srabion or Sarabioun ( ar, سربيون) is a village belonging to the city of Jableh, located in the mountains of the Syrian coast, administratively affiliated to Al-Qutailibiyah circle and it is part the municipalit ...

and

Dweir Baabda Dweir Baabda ( ar, دوير بعبده, Duwayr Ba'bda or Duweir Baabda) is a village in northwestern Syria administratively part of the Latakia Governorate, located southeast of Latakia. It is situated off a secondary road, at the summit of a mou ...

to the southeast. According to the Syria Central Bureau of Statistics, Qurfays had a population of 5,566 in the 2004 census.General Census of Population and Housing 2004
Syria Central Bureau of Statistics (CBS). Latakia Governorate. Its inhabitants are predominantly

Alawite The Alawis, Alawites ( ar, علوية ''Alawīyah''), or pejoratively Nusayris ( ar, نصيرية ''Nuṣayrīyah'') are an ethnoreligious group that lives primarily in Levant and follows Alawism, a sect of Islam that originated from Shia Isl ...

s and is one of the centers of the large Douba family. Ali Douba, the former longtime Chief of

Military Intelligence Military intelligence is a military discipline that uses information collection and analysis approaches to provide guidance and direction to assist commanders in their decisions. This aim is achieved by providing an assessment of data from a ...

. The municipality of Qurfays was established in 1979 to administer the local affairs of the village as well as nearby al-Barazin, al-Zahra, Bishnana and Mahwarta. There are about 7,000 people living in the municipality whose mayor in 2008 was Abdullah Ehsan.

History

Qurfays served as minor fortress village under the authority of the

Knights Hospitallers The Order of Knights of the Hospital of Saint John of Jerusalem ( la, Ordo Fratrum Hospitalis Sancti Ioannis Hierosolymitani), commonly known as the Knights Hospitaller (), was a medieval and early modern Catholic military order. It was headq ...

fortress of

Margat Margat, also known as Marqab ( ar, قلعة المرقب, ''Qalaat al-Marqab'', lit=Castle of the Watchtower), is a castle near Baniyas, Syria, which was a Crusader fortress and one of the major strongholds of the Knights Hospitaller. It is locat ...

in the 13th-century and was referred to as ''Corveis''. In 1271 the Mamluk sultan

Baibars Al-Malik al-Zahir Rukn al-Din Baybars al-Bunduqdari ( ar, الملك الظاهر ركن الدين بيبرس البندقداري, ''al-Malik al-Ẓāhir Rukn al-Dīn Baybars al-Bunduqdārī'') (1223/1228 – 1 July 1277), of Turkic Kipchak ...

defeated the Crusaders in the coastal mountain range of Syria and forced the Hospitallers to evacuate Qurfays, among other fortresses.Riley-Smith, 2012, p. 211. However, before they withdrew, they destroyed Qurfays and nearby Balda. In the 1281 treaty between Mamluk sultan

Qalawun ( ar, قلاوون الصالحي, – November 10, 1290) was the seventh Bahri Mamluk sultan; he ruled Egypt from 1279 to 1290. He was called (, "Qalāwūn the Victorious"). Biography and rise to power Qalawun was a Kipchak, ancient Turkic ...

and the Crusader king

Bohemond IV of Antioch Bohemond IV of Antioch, also known as Bohemond the One-Eyed (french: Bohémond le Borgne; 1175–1233), was Count of Tripoli from 1187 to 1233, and Prince of Antioch from 1201 to 1216 and from 1219 to 1233. He was the younger son of Bohemond III ...

, Qurfays was among the many fortresses officially handed to the Mamluks.Holt, 1995, p. 63.

References

Bibliography

* * * * {{Latakia Governorate, jableh Populated places in Jableh District Castles and fortifications of the Knights Hospitaller Alawite communities in Syria