[شب الكوبة]

Main sights

Latakia Tetraporticus, built by Septimius Severus in 183.



Latakia Sports City


The modern city still exhibits faint traces of its former importance, notwithstanding the frequent earthquakes with which it has been visited. The marina is built upon foundations of ancient columns, and there are in the town, an old gateway and other antiquities, as also sarcophagi and sepulchral caves in the neighbourhood. This gateway is a remarkable triumphal arch, at the southeast corner of the town, almost entire: it is built with four entrances, like the Forum Jani at Rome. It is conjectured that this arch was built in honour of Lucius Verus, or of Septimius Severus. (Description of the East, vol. ii. p. 197.) Fragments of Greek and Latin inscriptions, are dispersed all over the ruins, but entirely defaced.
Notable points of interest in the nearby include the massive Saladin's Castle and the ruins of Ugarit, where some of the earliest alphabetic writings have been found. There are also several popular beaches
Culture

Latakia tobacco is a specially treated tobacco formerly produced in Syria, but now mainly produced in Cyprus. It is cured over a stone pine or oak wood fire, which gives it an intense smoky taste and smell. It is an essential part of many pipe tobacco mixtures, especially so-called "English blends."

Education

Latakia's main university is Tishreen University. It also houses a branch of the Arab Academy for Science and Technology and Maritime Transport

People from Latakia

Famous people from Latakia and its surroundings include:

• Hafez al-Assad
• Bashar Al-Asad
• Adonis (Ali Ahmad Said)
• Hasan Alkhayer
• Hanna Meena
• Izz ad-Din al-Qassam
• Jol Jammal
• Michel Kilo
• Aref Dalila
• Badawi al-Jabal (Mohammad Suleiman al-Ahmad