Latakia

Latakia (Arabic: اللاذقية Al-Ladhiqiyah, Greek: Λαοδικεία, transliterated as Laodicea, Laodikeia or Laodiceia, Turkish: Lazkiye; Latin: Laodicea ad Mare) is the principal port city of Syria. Its population is 554,000.

Geography

Laodicea was described by Strabo (xvi.2.9 et seq.) as admirably built, with an excellent harbor, surrounded by a rich country specially fruitful in vines, the wine of which furnished its chief supply to Alexandria. The vineyards were planted on the sides of gently-sloping hills, which were cultivated almost to their summits, and extended far to the east, nearly to Apamea.

History

The site, on the peninsula, has been occupied for a long time. The Phoenicians had a city here named Ramitha, and to the Greeks it was known as Leuke Akte. It was re-founded and named Laodicea by Seleucus I Nicator, after his mother. It was furnished with an aqueduct by Herod the Great (Joseph. Bel. Jud. i. 21. § 11), a large fragment of which is still to be seen. Strabo mentions that Dolabella, when he fled to Laodicea before Cassius, distressed it greatly, and that, being besieged there until his death, he destroyed many parts of the city with him (43 CE). (Dict. of Biog. Vol. I. p. 1059.)

An arch from the time of Septimius Severus has survived. There seems to have been a sizable Jewish population at Laodicea in the first century (Joseph. Ant. xiv. 10 § 20). The heretic Apollinarius was bishop of Laodicea in the 4th century. The city minted coins from an early date.

It was devastated by earthquakes in 494 and 555, and captured by Arabs in 638. In 1097 it was captured by Crusaders, and retaken by Saladin in 1188. From the 16th century to World War I it was part of the Ottoman Empire.

In the Ottoman period, the region of Latakia became predominately Alawi. The city itself, however, contained significant numbers of Sunni and Christian inhabitants. The landlords in the countryside tended to be Sunni while the peasants were mostly Alawi. Like the Druzes who also had a special status before the end of WWI, the Alawis had a strained relationship with the Ottoman overlords. In fact, they were not even given the status of millet, although they enjoyed relative autonomy (Rabinovich, 694). After the government of King Faysal was removed from power, the French governed the region of Latakia as a separate entity and granted it autonomy under the name of “Etat des Alaouites.”

Between September 22, 1930 and 1936, Latakia was the capital of the Sanjak of Latakia, a nominally automonous state ruled by France under a League of Nations mandate. The state extended along the coast and into the mountains inland. As it did for Alaouites earlier, between 1931 and 1933 France overprinted postage stamps of Syria with "LATTAQUIE", and the Arabic version of the name underneath.

The Franco-Syrian treaty of 1936 called for the incorporation of the Alawi and Druze states into Syria. Although the French Parlement never ratified the treaty, it was implemented until 1939 when the French High-Commissioner suspended the treaty and reinstated the autonomy of the Alawi and Druze regions. After the 1943 elections, the two areas were integrated into the state of Syria.

In 1973 during the Yom Kippur War, the naval Battle of Latakia between Israel and Syria, just offshore, was the first to be fought using missiles and ECM (electronic countermeasures).

Ruins

The modern city still exhibits faint traces of its former importance, notwithstanding the frequent earthquakes with which it has been visited. The marina is built upon foundations of ancient columns, and there are in the town, an old gateway and other antiquities, as also sarcophagi and sepulchral caves in the neighbourhood. This gateway is a remarkable triumphal arch, at the southeast corner of the town, almost entire: it is built with four entrances, like the Forum Jani at Rome. It is conjectured that this arch was built in honour of Lucius Verus, or of Septimius Severus. (Description of the East, vol. ii. p. 197.) Fragments of Greek and Latin inscriptions, are dispersed all over the ruins, but entirely defaced.

Culture and economy

There are a number of popular beaches around Latakia, and the ruins of Ugarit, where some of the earliest alphabetic writings have been found, are just 16 km (10 miles) to the north.

Latakia tobacco is a specially treated tobacco formerly produced in Syria, but now mainly produced in Cyprus. It is cured over a stone pine or oak wood fire, which gives it an intense smoky taste and smell. It is an essential part of many pipe tobacco mixtures, especially so-called "English blends."

People from Latakia

Latakia is the city with the largest proportion of Alawites in Syria. Famous people from Latakia and its surroundings include Hafez al-Assad, Bashar Al-Asad, Adonis (Ali Ahmad Said) and Hanna Meena.

Governorate

Latakia is also the name of a governorate which contains the city of Latakia. A picture of the location of this governate is to the right.

References

Rabinovich, Itamar. “The Compact Minorities and the Syrian State, 1918-1945." Journal of Contemporary History. (SAGE, London and Beverly Hills). Vol 14. 1979. 693-712.
Smith, William (editor); Dictionary of Greek and Roman Geography, "Laodiceia", London, (1854)
Jewish Encyclopedia, "Laodicea"

External Links

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