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| Reviews and photos of Latakia attractions posted by real travelers and locals. The best tips for Latakia sightseeing. Latakia Map |
 | Latakia Things To Do | Tips 1 - 10 of 41 |  |
The Saladin Castle is one of the most impressive castles in Syria. It is built on a mountain ridge with two sharp ravines to its sides. Most of what can be seen of the castle today belongs to the construction made by the Crusaders who took the place in early 12th century. In 1188 Saladin and his men stormed the castle and got control of it.
From a distance it almost looks like the castle is part of the mountain. Leave a Comment
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To go to Saladin Castle you take a microbus from Latakia to al-Haffa. It takes about 30 minutes and the fare is 10 SP. From al-Haffa the microbus driver offered to drive us to the castle for 100 SP (all together). Which was very good as it is to long to walk.
For a tourist, without student card, the entrance fee to the castle is 150 SP. Leave a Comment
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The ancient site of Ugarit (Ras Shamra) is situated 15 km from Latakia but it can easily be reached with a microbus. The microbus leaves from a side street behind Saaht al-Sheikh Daher and the fare is 5 SP. The microbus passes Cote d'Azur de Cham and we stopped there on the way back for a swim.
Entrance fee to the archaeological site is 150 SP. Leave a Comment
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From the tower you can see the different buildings, or ruins, in the inner courtyard. On the highest point are the ruins of a Byzantine citadel. Below there are the remains of a palace from the 12th - 13th century with a bath and a Mamluke mosque from the reign of Sultan Qalawun (1280 - 90). Leave a Comment
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An important find is the archives with the many tablets with coniform texts in several languages. They give information of Ugarits religion and myths, diplomatic correspondence, the kings of the kingdom, economy and trade.
There are also tablets written with the Ugarit alphabet, the first alphabet!
In the Ugaritic alphabet there are only 30 symbols, each symbol represents one sound. Leave a Comment
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On the acropolis are two foundations (or part of it) of the Temple of Baal and the Temple of Dagon. Between them is the House of the Chief Priest, where three archives with tablets with writings of mythology have been found.
Ugarit got wealthy mainly on trade. The kingdom was trading with copper from Cyprus, timber, olive oil, wine and grains. Also with textiles, cosmetics, ivory work and metalwork. Leave a Comment
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There is not so much to see at the lower courtyard and it is very overgrown.
When Saladin and his men stormed the castle in 1188 they broke through the western walls because the ditch below was not finished and the access to the castle more easy then elsewhere. The crusaders never took it back. Leave a Comment
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As you approach the castle the serpentine road turns sharply to the right and you enter a narrow canyon with vertical sides. The canyon is about 150 metres long and 20 metres wide. 30 metres above, to the right, is the castle.
The canyon is man-made, cut out by hand to separate the castle from the ridge. It’s incredible and must have been hard work for many. Left in the middle of the road is a needle of stone (28 metres high). It used to support the drawbridge. Leave a Comment
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The Royal Palace was impressive and built around six big courtyards and gardens. The royal family had their quarters on the upper floor while the groundfloor was more for representation and administratrion. In the five different archives a large number of tablets written in different language has been found, giving us a lot of information about life in Ugarit. Leave a Comment
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The site was inhabited already from the 6th century BC, but it was during the period after 2000 the city was on its peak, until 1200 when it was sacked and never recovered.
The Original entrance to Ugarit is on the right as you arrive to the site. Leave a Comment
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on September 5, 2004
