Jableh
Town in Latakia Governorate, Syria
title: "Jableh" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["cities-in-syria", "populated-places-in-jableh-district", "populated-coastal-places-in-syria"] description: "Town in Latakia Governorate, Syria" topic_path: "geography" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jableh" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0
::summary Town in Latakia Governorate, Syria ::
::data[format=table title="Infobox settlement"]
| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| official_name | |
| other_name | Gabala |
| native_name | جَبْلَةٌ |
| nickname | Mount of the Soul () |
| settlement_type | City |
| motto | |
| image_skyline | Jableh Collage.jpg |
| imagesize | 250px |
| image_caption | General view of city and port • Roman Amphitheater |
| • Al-Baath Stadium • Entrance of Roman Theater | |
| • Landscape of Jableh • Port | |
| pushpin_map | Syria#Mediterranean east#Asia |
| pushpin_label_position | bottom |
| pushpin_mapsize | 250 |
| pushpin_relief | yes |
| pushpin_map_caption | Location in Syria |
| subdivision_type | |
| subdivision_name | Flag of the Syrian revolution.svg Syria |
| subdivision_type1 | Governorate |
| subdivision_name1 | Latakia Governorate |
| subdivision_type2 | District |
| subdivision_name2 | Jableh District |
| subdivision_type3 | Subdistrict |
| subdivision_name3 | Jableh Subdistrict |
| subdivision_type4 | Control |
| subdivision_name4 | Syrian transitional government |
| leader_title1 | |
| established_title | |
| established_title2 | |
| established_title3 | |
| established_date3 | |
| unit_pref | Metric |
| area_total_km2 | |
| area_land_km2 | |
| area_blank1_sq_mi | |
| population_as_of | 2004 census |
| population_total | 80,000 |
| population_demonym | |
| timezone | |
| utc_offset | +2 |
| timezone_DST | EEST |
| utc_offset_DST | +3 |
| coordinates | |
| elevation_footnotes | |
| elevation_m | 16 |
| elevation_ft | |
| postal_code_type | |
| geocode | C3585 |
| area_codes | Country code: 963 |
| City code: 41 | |
| blank1_name | Climate |
| blank1_info | Csa |
| :: |
::callout[type=note] a historical city in Latakia Governorate, Syria ::
| official_name = Jableh | other_name = Gabala | native_name = جَبْلَةٌ | nickname = Mount of the Soul () | settlement_type = City | motto = | image_skyline = Jableh Collage.jpg | imagesize = 250px | image_caption = General view of city and port • Roman Amphitheater • Al-Baath Stadium • Entrance of Roman Theater • Landscape of Jableh • Port | image_flag = | flag_size = | image_seal = | seal_size = | image_shield = | shield_size = | image_blank_emblem = | blank_emblem_type = | blank_emblem_size = | image_map = | mapsize = | map_caption = | image_map1 = | mapsize1 = | map_caption1 = | image_dot_map = | dot_mapsize = | dot_map_caption = | dot_x = | dot_y = | pushpin_map = Syria#Mediterranean east#Asia | pushpin_label_position = bottom | pushpin_mapsize = 250 | pushpin_relief = yes | pushpin_map_caption = Location in Syria | subdivision_type = Country | subdivision_name = Flag of the Syrian revolution.svg Syria | subdivision_type1 = Governorate | subdivision_name1 = Latakia Governorate | subdivision_type2 = District | subdivision_name2 = Jableh District | subdivision_type3 = Subdistrict | subdivision_name3 = Jableh Subdistrict | subdivision_type4 = Control | subdivision_name4 = Syrian transitional government | government_footnotes = | government_type = | leader_title = | leader_name = | leader_title1 = | leader_name1 = | leader_title2 = | leader_name2 = | leader_title3 = | leader_name3 = | leader_title4 = | leader_name4 = | established_title = | established_date = | established_title2 = | established_date2 = | established_title3 = | established_date3 = | area_magnitude = | unit_pref = Metric | area_footnotes = | area_total_km2 = | area_land_km2 = | area_water_km2 = | area_total_sq_mi = | area_land_sq_mi = | area_water_sq_mi = | area_water_percent = | area_urban_km2 = | area_urban_sq_mi = | area_metro_km2 = | area_metro_sq_mi = | area_blank1_title = | area_blank1_km2 = | area_blank1_sq_mi = | population_as_of = 2004 census | population_footnotes = | population_note = | population_total = 80,000 | population_density_km2 = | population_density_sq_mi = | population_metro = | population_density_metro_km2 = | population_density_metro_sq_mi = | population_urban = | population_density_urban_km2 = | population_density_urban_sq_mi = | population_blank1_title = | population_blank1 = | population_blank2_title = | population_blank2 = | population_density_blank1_km2 = | population_density_blank1_sq_mi = | population_demonym = | timezone = EET | utc_offset = +2 | timezone_DST = EEST | utc_offset_DST = +3 | coordinates = | elevation_footnotes = | elevation_m = 16 | elevation_ft = | postal_code_type = | postal_code = | geocode = C3585 | area_codes = Country code: 963 City code: 41 | blank1_name = Climate | blank1_info = Csa | blank_name = | blank_info = | website = | footnotes =
Jableh (; ar, also spelt Jebleh, Jabala, Jablah, Gabala or Gibellum) is a Mediterranean coastal city in Syria, 25 km north of Baniyas and 25 km south of Latakia, with c. 80,000 inhabitants (2004 census). As Ancient Gabala, it was a Byzantine archbishopric and remains a Latin Catholic titular see. It contains the tomb and mosque of Ibrahim Bin Adham, a legendary Sufi mystic who renounced his throne of Balkh and devoted himself to prayers for the rest of his life.
History
Late Bronze Age
Kingdom of Ugarit
Jableh has been inhabited since at least the second-millennium BCE. The city was part of the Ugaritic kingdom and was mentioned as "Gbʿly" in the archives of the city c. 1200 BC.
Ugarit was a vassal of the Hittite Empire from around 1350 to 1190 BC, when the Hittite Empire collapsed.
Iron Age
Near the seashore remains were found dating to the Iron Age or Phoenician Era.
Classical Age
::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/d8/Jableh_2.jpg" caption="The Roman theatre"] ::
In antiquity Jableh (then called Gabala) was an important Hellenistic and then Roman city. One of the main remains of this period is a theatre, capable of housing c. 7,000 spectators.
Middle Ages
The Jableh region was incorporated into the Islamic Empire with the conquest of Syria in 637–642. Between approximately 969 and 1081, however, much of the region returned under the control of the Byzantine Empire, until it was captured by Banu Ammar. The Alawites began spreading in the area in the early eleventh century.
In the medieval period, Jableh, then called Gibellum, was conquered by Tancred and the Genoese on 23 July 1109, to be part of the Principality of Antioch, one of the Crusader States. In 1126, the cities of Latakia and Jabala were the dowry of Princess Alice, daughter of King Baldwin II of Jerusalem. 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. Less than 1 km from the city center lies the ancient site of Gibala, today known as Tell Tweini. This city was inhabited from the third millennium BCE until the Persian period.
During the Mamluk period, there was still an "Ayyubid" mosque in the city that had probably been founded by members of Saladin's entourage or army. In 1318, a revolt by the Alawites from the surrounding highlands resulted in an attack on Jableh before a Mamluk column sent from Tripoli was able to retake control. The famous Moroccan traveler Ibn Battuta visited Jableh in 1326.
In the Ottoman period (1516–1918), Jabala originally formed a sub-province (sancak) of the province of Tripoli before it was made its own sancak in 1547–1548. The district (nahiye) of Jabala comprised approximately 80 villages in addition to Jableh itself, the majority of which were inhabited by Alawites. In 1564, the province of Jableh was governed by the son of Janbulad ibn Qasim al-Kurdi, the sancak-beyi of Kilis. The city of Jableh gained special importance with the Ottoman conquest of Cyprus, which lies just 120 km directly offshore, in 1570. The governor and the qadi (judge) of Jableh received numerous orders from the Ottoman government to guard the area against Mediterranean pirates and rebel Alawites in the next decades. The city and the province of Jableh became less important as Latakia rose in importance in the eighteenth century. At the end of the nineteenth century, the province of Jableh was divided into twenty new nahiyes.
Modern Age
civilwarOn May 23, 2016, the Islamic State claimed responsibility for four suicide bombings in Jableh, which had remained largely unaffected since the Syrian Civil War began in 2011. Purportedly targeting Alawite gatherings, the bombs killed over a hundred people. In Tartus, similarly insulated, another three bombers killed 48 people.
In February 2023, a magnitude 7.8 earthquake struck Turkey and western Syria. It caused widespread destruction and fatalities. In Jableh, at least 283 people died, 173 were injured and 19 buildings collapsed.
On 8 December 2024, the Syrian opposition took control of Jableh.
Economy
The majority of people in Jableh depend on agriculture for their income, 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 trade and there are small factories in the city for cottons and for making orange juice, whilst most residents solely depend on retirement allowance, although Jableh's economy suffers due to barely any electricity times between neighborhoods, which affects water availability in the city.
Sports
Jableh Sporting Club is a football club based in Jableh, playing in the Al-Baath Stadium, which has a seating capacity of 10,000.
People
- Adunis, a Syrian pioneer of modern Arabic poetry.
- Hugh of Jabala, 12th-century bishop of Jableh
- Izz ad-Din al-Qassam, Syrian Muslim preacher and a leader in the local struggles against British and French Mandatory rule in the Levant and an opponent of Zionism in the 1920s and 1930s and the namesake of the Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades, the military wing of Hamas.
- The Boustani family.
- Mohammad Zeitoun, a swimming champion whose story is featured in Zeitoun.
- Ali Maia, footballer
- Dr. Fayez Attaf, general surgeon who was known as 'The Poor People's Surgeon' in Jableh. He regularly paid the cost of operations of displaced and poor patients. He and his wife, neurologist Dr. Hala Saiid died in the February 2023 earthquake.
Climate
Jableh has a hot-summer Mediterranean climate (Köppen climate classification Csa). | width = auto | location = Jableh | metric first = yes | single line = yes | Jan high C = 12.8 | Feb high C = 14.0 | Mar high C = 17.7 | Apr high C = 21.4 | May high C = 25.0 | Jun high C = 28.3 | Jul high C = 30.0 | Aug high C = 28.8 | Sep high C = 27.6 | Oct high C = 26.5 | Nov high C = 21.5 | Dec high C = 15.5 | Jan mean C = 10.1 | Feb mean C = 10.9 | Mar mean C = 13.8 | Apr mean C = 16.9 | May mean C = 20.3 | Jun mean C = 23.9 | Jul mean C = 26.1 | Aug mean C = 25.6 | Sep mean C = 23.7 | Oct mean C = 21.6 | Nov mean C = 16.9 | Dec mean C = 12.2 | Jan low C = 7.3 | Feb low C = 7.8 | Mar low C = 9.9 | Apr low C = 12.4 | May low C = 15.5 | Jun low C = 19.4 | Jul low C = 22.2 | Aug low C = 22.3 | Sep low C = 19.8 | Oct low C = 16.7 | Nov low C = 12.3 | Dec low C = 8.9 |precipitation colour= green | Jan precipitation mm = 159 | Feb precipitation mm = 130 | Mar precipitation mm = 109 | Apr precipitation mm = 50 | May precipitation mm = 28 | Jun precipitation mm = 4 | Jul precipitation mm = 1 | Aug precipitation mm = 1 | Sep precipitation mm = 15 | Oct precipitation mm = 52 | Nov precipitation mm = 89 | Dec precipitation mm = 190 | unit rain days = 1 mm | Jan rain days = 14 | Feb rain days = 12 | Mar rain days = 11 | Apr rain days = 8 | May rain days = 4 | Jun rain days = 1 | Jul rain days = 1 | Aug rain days = 1 | Sep rain days = 2 | Oct rain days = 6 | Nov rain days = 9 | Dec rain days = 12 | Year rain days = | source 1 = World Weather Online | source 2 = Climate Data
References
Bibliography
References
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- Esber, Hawazan. "Small historical coastal cities: Urban development and freshwater resources". [[UNESCO]].
- (1992). "The Crisis years: the 12th century B.C.: from beyond the Danube to the Tigris". Kendall/Hunt.
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