Lattakia travel guide

Background

Lattakia was almost certainly founded as a small Phoenician fishing village around 1000 BC, though it was not until the fourth century BC that the emerging settlement developed into a town of any real significance. Having passed through the hands of the Assyrians, Persians and Alexander the Great’s Greek army, it was the Seleucid ruler Seleucus I Nicator (311-281 BC) who established Lattakia as a major town within his empire (the town taking its name from the emperor’s mother).

Lattakia continued to prosper after Pompey’s Levantine adventure at the head of the Roman army in 63 BC, taking the Roman name of Laodicea ad Mare. Having been made a free town with tax raising rights, Laodicea’s port developed further with the town becoming renowned for its wine production and export. The Christian church appears to have gained an early toe-hold in Laodicea, and there are several mentions of the Christian community here in the New Testament (Colossians 4: 13-16; Revelation 3: 14-22). For a short period under the emperor Septimus Severus (AD 193-211), Laodicea served as the capital of the Roman Provincia Syria, though this role later reverted back to the rival city of Antioch. The city was also one of those taken by the extraordinary Queen Zenobia when she challenged the might of the Roman emperor Aurelian in the late third century AD.

During the Byzantine and early Arab periods, the town suffered badly at the hands of man and nature. It was devastated on several occasions not just by the battle for hegemony between the declining Byzantine Empire and the growing Persian and Arab powers, but also by a series of earthquakes. Hardly had the city recovered before it grabbed the attention of the Crusader forces. Between 1097 and 1287, control of it passed repeatedly between Crusader and Arab hands, before the Christians were finally expelled from the Holy Land. Even then, the successors to the Crusader legacy (the Cyprus-based Lusignans) returned to sack the city in 1367.

After much of the Levant fell under Ottoman Turk control, Lattakia went into decline as rival ports were preferred for development, and by the end of the 19th century Lattakia was once again little more than a fishing village. The town’s revival began in the 1920s under the French Mandate authority, with Lattakia becoming the capital of the Alawi State administrative unit. The Alawi connection is also credited with Lattakia’s recent rapid resurgence, the al-Assad family links to the town being instrumental in the decision to redevelop the harbour into Syria’s premier port.

Getting around

Lattakia is mostly manageable on foot. If you don’t want to walk, there are plenty of taxis about (some even have working meters) and a journey within town shouldn’t cost more than S£30. Lattakia also has two city bus lines that visitors may find useful. Bus Route 1 regularly runs past the train station to the corniche and bus Route 3 runs all the way along the corniche to its southern end. City buses are green coloured and tickets cost S£10.

Ins and outs

Getting there and away

Lattakia has good connections to Damascus, Tartus and Homs from its Pullman bus station and there are also services from Antakya (in Turkey) to here. Its three different microbus stations are spread over town and connect many of the local villages on the north and eastern regions of the coast. If you’re coming from Aleppo, it’s best to come here by train.

Lattakia’s airport is 25 km southeast of town. It is mainly used for flights to and from Damascus although there is also one flight per week to Cairo. A taxi from the airport to the centre of town will cost approximately S£400.

The Pullman bus station, the train station and the main microbus station (that services the eastern villages) are all located on Abdul Kader al-Housseiny Street, a few minutes’ walk from each other. It’s about a 30-minute walk into town from here and manageable if not too hot. A taxi from in front of the train station to the town centre costs S£30.

If you are coming from Kassab you will be dropped at the microbus station near Assad Sports Stadium, about a 20-minute walk from town. A taxi from here to the centre costs S£25.

Lattakia

The main bus and microbus stations and the train station are all located within a 5-min walk of each other. It costs S£30 to get here from the centre in a taxi.

Air

Al-Basil International Airport is 25 km southeast of town. There’s 2-3 flights to Damascus every day except Tue (1 hr, S£1244) and a service to Cairo, Egypt, once a week on Thu (S£10,950).

The Syrian Air office, T041-476100 (airport T041-833513), is on 8 Azar St. As well as buying tickets for flights from Lattakia, you can book and reconfirm international flights with Syrian Air from Damascus here. The best travel agency in town is Julia Dumna, on Baghdad St, T041-454577, who can help you book any onward flights.

Bus

All Pullman buses leave from the main bus station (Garagat Pullman) located behind the train station on Abdel Kader al-Houseiny St. From here there are regular departures to Damascus, Tartus, and Homs, as well as international services over the Turkish border to Antakya.

Kadmous have buses to Tartus every half hour (1 hr, S£60), to Damascus roughly every 2 hrs (4½ hrs, S£250), and to Homs every hour (4 hrs, S£125). Al-Ahliah buses ply some of the same routes and also go to Hama 5 times per day on a rather circuitous route via Tartus and Homs: 0645, 1230, 1415, 1600, 1700 and 1930 (3½ hrs, S£160). If you’re heading to Aleppo, it’s best to take the train.

The old ‘Hob-Hob’ bus station is located between the main bus station and the train station on Abdel Kader al-Houseiny St. You can catch rickety old buses to Damascus and Aleppo from here that depart when full and stop en route on demand but as the Pullman buses are so cheap there’s not much point in using them.

International departures

For Antakya in Turkey, Al-Hassan Company has a minibus that leaves from the main bus station at 0700 daily (4 hrs, S£500). To Lebanon, you can catch a service taxi to Tripoli (S£500) or Beirut (S£800), from the parking lot of the ‘Hob-Hob’ station.

Car

Budget have an office on Baghdad St, inside the Engineering Union Building, T041-454577.

Microbus

Lattakia has 3 different microbus stations that service different local towns. The locations of the stations have been changed a few times in recent years and there is talk of changing them yet again. Always check with your hotel for up-to-date information.

To Blue Beach and Ugarit: microbuses leave regularly from the corner of Antakiah St and Abdullah Ibn Masud St (Blue Beach: 10 mins, £S5. Ugarit: 20 mins, S£10).

To Kassab and the northern beaches: microbuses to the north all leave from the microbus station next to Assad Stadium on Al-Jalaa St. They leave quite regularly but you’ll have to wait for them to fill up: Kassab (1½ hrs, S£25), Ras al-Bassit (1 hr, £S25), the beaches of Birj Islam and Wadi Qandeel (30 mins, £S20).

To the eastern villages: microbuses leave from the microbus station behind the Pullman bus station. From here there are quite frequent services to Al-Haffeh (for Qala’at Salah uh-Din (45 mins, S£20) and Slunfeh (1 hr, S£25), as well as many other destinations to the east.

Train

Lattakia Train Station, on Al-Yarman Sq, is useful for getting to Aleppo. The train journey there winds through the forested hills and cliffs of the Jebel Ansariye and quite picturesque farmland.

There are 6 daily trains to Aleppo: 2 fast services at 0625 and 1725 (2½ hrs, 1st class S£160, 2nd class S£135), and 4 slower trains at 0700, 1000, 1540 and 2100 (3½ hrs, 1st class S£70, 2nd class S£50). There’s 1 train per day to Damascus, inconveniently leaving at 0200 (5 hrs, S£155), and to Tartus there’s a daily service at 1515 (1 hr, S£40).

Banks

The main branch of CBS is on Baghdad St, Sat-Thu 0830-1330. It has an ATM and you can change cash here. If your card is playing up in the CBS ATM you can try the ATMs at the Bank of Syria and Overseas, across the road from CBS, or Banque Bemo on Al Quds St. Both these banks’ ATMs should take all foreign cards.

Internet

Centrenet Café and 24 Internet Café are both on Al-Moutanabby St and have fast connections.

Medical services

The Al-Assad University Hospital, 8 Azar St, T041-478782, is Lattakia’s best hospital. There are pharmacies all over town.

Post

The main post office is in a small cul-de-sac off Souria Av (around 200 m northeast of the roundabout known as Al Yaman Sq), Sat-Thu 0800-1900. For stamps, poste restante, etc go to the 1st floor. DHL have an office on Seif al-Dawlah St, opposite the post office.

Telephone

The telephone office is on the corner of Al-Moutanabby and Seif al-Dawlah St, open daily 0800-2300. There are 4 card-phones inside. When the desk selling phonecards is closed there is always at least one tout offering them for a small mark-up.

Visa Extensions

The Passport and Immigration Office is just to the northeast of Al-Jumhouriah Sq. The sign on the building reads ‘Brancne Des Passeportes in Lattakia’. Open Sat-Thu 0800-1400 (though the ‘big chief’ doesn’t get there until 0900 at the earliest). You need a grand total of 6 passport photos and bring a letter from your hotel as it’s sometimes asked for. You will be sent to-ing and fro-ing between the 2nd and 3rd floors in order to accumulate all the necessary paperwork. Otherwise, it’s reasonably efficient and you should get your extension within an hour or so.