Jabala

Jableh جبلة
A collage of Jableh.
Jableh Location in Syria
Coordinates: 35°21′N 35°55′E / 35.350°N 35.917°E / 35.350; 35.917
Country	Syria
Governorate	Latakia Governorate
District	Jableh District
Nahiyah	Jableh
Elevation	16 m (52 ft)
Population
• Total	80,000
Time zone	EET (UTC+2)
• Summer (DST)	EEST (UTC+3)

Jableh (Arabic: جبلة‎ Ǧabla), also spelt Jebleh, Jabala, Jablah or Gabala, is a coastal city on the Mediterranean in Syria.^[1] with c. 80,000 inhabitants (2008).

Jableh was part of the Principality of Antioch, one of the Crusader States, until it was captured by Saladin in 1189 during the Third Crusade. One famous resident was Hugh of Jabala, the city's bishop, who reported the fall of Edessa to Pope Eugene III, and was the first person to speak of Prester John.

The city is home to the tomb and the mosque of Sultan Ibrahim Bin Adham, a famous Sufi mystic who renounced his throne and devoted himself to prayers for the rest of his life.^[2]

Jableh has a beach named in the local language (Al-Kurnish), where people come and meet to enjoy the cold beer and water pipe in that incredible view of the sea.

Jableh is the home town of the Syrian pioneer of modern Arabic poetry Adunis who was one of the first Arabic poets. /articles/Adunis. Jableh is also the home town of the world-champion swimmer Firas Mouala, who swam from Latakia to Cyprus (almost 90 km distance): .

The city is the home town of Izz ad-Din al-Qassam, a famous Islamic figure who fought against the French Colonization in Syria, and then moved to Palestine where he led a revolution against the British authorities and the well-armed Jewish gangs.

In antiquity Jableh was an important Roman city, one of the main remains of this period is an amphitheatre, capable of housing c. 7,000 spectators. Near the seashores even older remains were found dating to the Iron Age or Phoenician Era. Less than 1 kilometer of the city centre lies the ancient site of Gibala, today known as Tell Tweini. This city was inhabited from the third millennium BCE until the Persian period.

Economy

The majority of people in Jableh depend on agriculture for their life, people grow orange and lemon trees, olives, a large number of green houses for vegetables can be found in the country side. In the center of the city people work in trad and there are small factories in the city for cottons and for making orange juice.

Sports

Jableh Sporting Club is a football club based in Jableh. The club plays its games in the Al-Baath Stadium, which has a seating capacity of 10,000.

References