Baniyas
Encyclopedia
Baniyas is a city of northwestern Syria
, located at the foot of the hill of Qalaat el-Marqab (housing the Crusade castle of Marqab, Margat in western sources), 55 km to the south of Latakia
(ancient Laodicea) and 35 km north of Tartous
(ancient Tortosa), and a Catholic titular see
under the Latin name of Balanea, which is presently vacant.
It is famous for its orchards and its export of wood. Today it is best known for its oil refinery
north of the city, one of the largest in Syria; a power station
is also present.
It still contains citrus fruit orchards surrounded by green hills. One of the hills has at its top the imposing Margat
Citadel, a huge Knights Hospitaller
fortress built with black basalt
stone.
n times, it was an important seaport, known to the Greeks as Balemia. Perhaps in Hellenistic times the city borrowed the name Leucas (according to Stephanus Byzantius) from the island in western Greece
. The city of Balanaea, its Latin name, was a colony of Aradus
(Strabo, XVI, 753), and was placed by Stephanus Byzantius in Phoenicia
, though it belonged rather to the former Roman province
of Syria
. Its first known bishop was present at the Council of Nicaea
in 325 (Lequien, Oriens Christ., II, 923). In 2011
, during the 2011 Syrian uprising
, Baniyas is assieged
by the Syrian military.
Syria
Syria , officially the Syrian Arab Republic , is a country in Western Asia, bordering Lebanon and the Mediterranean Sea to the West, Turkey to the north, Iraq to the east, Jordan to the south, and Israel to the southwest....
, located at the foot of the hill of Qalaat el-Marqab (housing the Crusade castle of Marqab, Margat in western sources), 55 km to the south of Latakia
Latakia
Latakia, or Latakiyah , is the principal port city of Syria, as well as the capital of the Latakia Governorate. In addition to serving as a port, the city is a manufacturing center for surrounding agricultural towns and villages...
(ancient Laodicea) and 35 km north of Tartous
Tartous
Tartus is a city on the Mediterranean coast of Syria. Tartus is the second largest port city in Syria , and the largest city in Tartus Governorate. The population size is 98,000 .- Geography and climate :...
(ancient Tortosa), and a Catholic titular see
Titular see
A titular see in various churches is an episcopal see of a former diocese that no longer functions, sometimes called a "dead diocese". The ordinary or hierarch of such a see may be styled a "titular bishop", "titular metropolitan", or "titular archbishop"....
under the Latin name of Balanea, which is presently vacant.
It is famous for its orchards and its export of wood. Today it is best known for its oil refinery
Oil refinery
An oil refinery or petroleum refinery is an industrial process plant where crude oil is processed and refined into more useful petroleum products, such as gasoline, diesel fuel, asphalt base, heating oil, kerosene, and liquefied petroleum gas...
north of the city, one of the largest in Syria; a power station
Power station
A power station is an industrial facility for the generation of electric energy....
is also present.
It still contains citrus fruit orchards surrounded by green hills. One of the hills has at its top the imposing Margat
Margat
Margat, also known as Marqab from the Arabic Qalaat al-Marqab is a castle near Baniyas, Syria, which was a Crusader fortress and one of the major strongholds of the Knights Hospitaller...
Citadel, a huge Knights Hospitaller
Knights Hospitaller
The Sovereign Military Hospitaller Order of Saint John of Jerusalem of Rhodes and of Malta , also known as the Sovereign Military Order of Malta , Order of Malta or Knights of Malta, is a Roman Catholic lay religious order, traditionally of military, chivalrous, noble nature. It is the world's...
fortress built with black basalt
Basalt
Basalt is a common extrusive volcanic rock. It is usually grey to black and fine-grained due to rapid cooling of lava at the surface of a planet. It may be porphyritic containing larger crystals in a fine matrix, or vesicular, or frothy scoria. Unweathered basalt is black or grey...
stone.
History
In PhoeniciaPhoenicia
Phoenicia , was an ancient civilization in Canaan which covered most of the western, coastal part of the Fertile Crescent. Several major Phoenician cities were built on the coastline of the Mediterranean. It was an enterprising maritime trading culture that spread across the Mediterranean from 1550...
n times, it was an important seaport, known to the Greeks as Balemia. Perhaps in Hellenistic times the city borrowed the name Leucas (according to Stephanus Byzantius) from the island in western Greece
Greece
Greece , officially the Hellenic Republic , and historically Hellas or the Republic of Greece in English, is a country in southeastern Europe....
. The city of Balanaea, its Latin name, was a colony of Aradus
Aradus
Aradus is a large genus of flat bugs, with nearly 200 described species, the majority in the Holarctic. Temperate species commonly live under the bark of dead trees....
(Strabo, XVI, 753), and was placed by Stephanus Byzantius in Phoenicia
Phoenicia
Phoenicia , was an ancient civilization in Canaan which covered most of the western, coastal part of the Fertile Crescent. Several major Phoenician cities were built on the coastline of the Mediterranean. It was an enterprising maritime trading culture that spread across the Mediterranean from 1550...
, though it belonged rather to the former Roman province
Roman province
In Ancient Rome, a province was the basic, and, until the Tetrarchy , largest territorial and administrative unit of the empire's territorial possessions outside of Italy...
of Syria
Syria
Syria , officially the Syrian Arab Republic , is a country in Western Asia, bordering Lebanon and the Mediterranean Sea to the West, Turkey to the north, Iraq to the east, Jordan to the south, and Israel to the southwest....
. Its first known bishop was present at the Council of Nicaea
First Council of Nicaea
The First Council of Nicaea was a council of Christian bishops convened in Nicaea in Bithynia by the Roman Emperor Constantine I in AD 325...
in 325 (Lequien, Oriens Christ., II, 923). In 2011
2011 in Syria
-January:* 26–27 January: On 26 January 2011, Hasan Ali Akleh from Al-Hasakah poured gasoline on himself and set himself on fire, in the same way Tunisian Mohamed Bouazizi had in Tunis on 17 December 2010...
, during the 2011 Syrian uprising
2011 Syrian uprising
The 2011 Syrian uprising is an ongoing internal conflict occurring in Syria. Protests started on 26 January 2011, and escalated into an uprising by 15 March 2011...
, Baniyas is assieged
Siege of Baniyas
The Siege of Baniyas was a military operation conducted by the Syrian military in the city of Baniyas against what the government calls terrorist groups, while the opposition called it a crackdown against pro-democracy protestors.-Background:...
by the Syrian military.