Safita
Safita | |
---|---|
UTC+3 (EEST) | |
Area code | 43 |
City Qrya Pcode | C5472 |
Safita (
Geography
Safita is situated at the southeastern end of the Syrian Coastal Mountain Range.[2] It is 26 kilometers (16 mi) southeast of the Mediterranean port city of Tartus and 55 kilometers (34 mi) northwest of Homs.[2] The average elevation of Safita is 400 meters (1,300 ft) above sea level, while the Crusader fortress stands about 720 meters (2,360 ft).[2]
Climate
Safita has a hot-summer Mediterranean climate (Köppen Csa) with hot, dry summers and mild, wet winters. It is part of the wettest region of Syria due to the orographic effect of the coastal Mediterranean Sea mountains, receiving around 1,200 millimetres or 47 inches of rainfall per year, or about ten times as much as Damascus and four times as much as Aleppo.
Climate data for Safita | |||||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Month | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | Year |
Mean daily maximum °C (°F) | 13.2 (55.8) |
15.4 (59.7) |
16.8 (62.2) |
20.7 (69.3) |
24.9 (76.8) |
28.0 (82.4) |
29.1 (84.4) |
30.0 (86.0) |
28.7 (83.7) |
26.2 (79.2) |
21.5 (70.7) |
15.6 (60.1) |
22.5 (72.5) |
Daily mean °C (°F) | 10.3 (50.5) |
11.2 (52.2) |
13.0 (55.4) |
16.7 (62.1) |
20.4 (68.7) |
23.4 (74.1) |
25.0 (77.0) |
25.8 (78.4) |
24.2 (75.6) |
21.9 (71.4) |
17.8 (64.0) |
12.7 (54.9) |
18.5 (65.3) |
Mean daily minimum °C (°F) | 7.4 (45.3) |
7.1 (44.8) |
9.3 (48.7) |
12.8 (55.0) |
16.0 (60.8) |
18.8 (65.8) |
20.8 (69.4) |
21.7 (71.1) |
19.8 (67.6) |
17.6 (63.7) |
14.2 (57.6) |
9.7 (49.5) |
14.6 (58.3) |
Average rainfall mm (inches) | 215.1 (8.47) |
216.7 (8.53) |
159.5 (6.28) |
108.1 (4.26) |
21.8 (0.86) |
0.3 (0.01) |
0.4 (0.02) |
5.1 (0.20) |
39.7 (1.56) |
75.4 (2.97) |
135.2 (5.32) |
239.2 (9.42) |
1,216.5 (47.9) |
Source: [3] |
History
Safita is located on a site where remains of the Phoenician settlement were discovered. The archaeological remains at the site of Tell Kazel were identified as the Phoenician city of Sumur mentioned in the Amarna letters.
Crusader era
Ottoman era
Safita was the center of the principal
After 1640, Safita is seldom mentioned in the historical chronicles of the middle Ottoman period. However, court records in Tripoli Sanjak, of which Safita was part, the earliest of which date to 1666 and 1667 indicate the
Modern era
In 1943, its population of 3,500 largely consisted of
Landmarks
The Crusader fortress "Chastel Blanc", a square tower built in 1202, is well preserved and rises to a height of 28 meters. It is 18 meters wide and 31 meters long. Among its walls, 3 meters high, is a chapel dedicated to St. Michael and serving the Greek Orthodox community of the city. The second floor of the building, which can be ascended in a stone staircase, was originally used as a dormitory and is illuminated by firing slits. Beneath the tower was a water cistern that was used by the inhabitants of the fortress.[4]
Twin towns – sister cities
References
- ^ "General Census of Population 2004". Retrieved 2017-10-20.
- ^ a b c d e Syria, April 1943. Naval Intelligence Division, Great Britain. 1944. p. 231.
- ISBN 9780444418616.
- ^ ISBN 9781317479666.
- ^ a b c Winter 2016, p. 124.
- ^ Abu Husayn 1985, p. 48.
- ^ Winter 2016, p. 127.
- ^ Betts 1978, p. 101.
- ^ Supplementary Business Paper for Council Meeting 11/05. 13 December 2005. Marrickville City Council. Retrieved on 1 July 2007.
- ^ Sarah Sharples (8 August 2014). "Marrickville Council retains sister city relationship ties with Safita in Syria". Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 2017-09-04.
Bibliography
- Abu Husayn, Abdul Rahim (1985). Provincial Leaderships in Syria, 1575-1650. Beirut: American University of Beirut.
- Betts, Robert Brenton (1978). Christians in the Arab East: A Political Study. John Knox Press. ISBN 9780804207966.
- Winter, Stefan (2016). A History of the 'Alawis: From Medieval Aleppo to the Turkish Republic. Princeton and Oxford: Princeton University Press. ISBN 9780691173894.
34°49′N 36°07′E / 34.817°N 36.117°E