Al-Ziyarah ( ar, الزيارة, also spelled Zeyareh) is a town in northern Syria, administratively part of the Hama Governorate, located 75 kilometers northwest of Hama. It is situated in the

Ghab plain The Ghab Plain ( ar, سَهْلُ ٱلْغَابِ, Sahl al-Ġāb, literally: Forest Plain) is a fertile depression lying mainly in the Al-Suqaylabiyah District in northwest Syria. The Orontes River, flowing north, enters the Plain near Muhradah, ...

, on the eastern bank of the Orontes River.Lipinsky, 2000, p. 276. Nearby localities include

Qarqur Qarqur ( ar, قرقور, also spelled Qarqar or Karkour) is a village in northern Syria, administratively part of the Hama Governorate, located northwest of Hama. It is situated in the al-Ghab plain, on the eastern bank of the Orontes River. Ne ...

7 kilometers to the north,

Sirmaniyah Sirmaniyah ( ar, سرمانية ''Sirmāniyah'', also spelled ''Sarmania'', ''al-Sarmaniyah'', ''Sermaniye'') is a village in northern Syria, administratively part of the Hama Governorate, northwest of Hama. Nearby localities include Jisr al-Shu ...

to the northwest,

Qastun Qastun ( ar, قسطون), also spelled Kastun or Kustun, is a village in northern Syria, administratively part of the Hama Governorate, located northwest of Hama and 35 kilometers southwest of Idlib. It is situated in the Ghab plain, on the eas ...

to the east and

Farikah Farikah ( ar, فريكة, also spelled Frikka, Freike, Freikeh or Furaykah) is a village in northern Syria, administratively part of the Hama Governorate, located north of Hama. It is situated in the Ghab plain. Nearby localities include Shath ...

Khirbet al-Arus The glossary of Arabic toponyms gives translations of Arabic terms commonly found as components in Arabic toponyms. A significant number of them were put together during the PEF Survey of Palestine carried out in the second half of the 19th cent ...

and

al-Amqiyah Tahta Al-Amqiyah al-Tahta ( ar, العمقية تحتا) is a village in northern Syria, administratively part of the Hama Governorate, located northwest of Hama. It is situated in the Ghab plain Nearby localities include al-Huwash to the south, Nab ...

to the south. According to the Syria Central Bureau of Statistics, al-Ziyarah had a population of 3,541 in the 2004 census. It is also the center of the

Al-Ziyarah Nahiyah Al-Ziyarah Subdistrict ( ar, ناحية الزيارة) is a Syrian ''nahiyah'' (subdistrict) located in Al-Suqaylabiyah District in Hama. According to the Syria Central Bureau of Statistics (CBS), al-Ziyarah Subdistrict had a population of 38,8 ...

("subdistrict"), part of the

Al-Suqaylabiyah District Al-Suqaylabiyah District ( ar, السقيلبية ') is a district ( mantiqah) administratively belonging to Hama Governorate, Syria. At the 2004 official census, the district had a population of 240,091. Its administrative centre is the city of ...

, consisting of 25 localities and with a combined population of 38,872 in 2004.General Census of Population and Housing 2004
. Syria Central Bureau of Statistics (CBS). Hama Governorate.

History

Al-Ziyarah has been identified as the ancient

Aramaean The Arameans ( oar, 𐤀𐤓𐤌𐤉𐤀; arc, 𐡀𐡓𐡌𐡉𐡀; syc, ܐܪ̈ܡܝܐ, Ārāmāyē) were an ancient Semitic-speaking people in the Near East, first recorded in historical sources from the late 12th century BCE. The Aramean ...

city of "Ziara," which was part of the

Hamath , timezone = EET , utc_offset = +2 , timezone_DST = EEST , utc_offset_DST = +3 , postal_code_type = , postal_code = , ar ...

kingdom. The name ''al-Ziyarah'' is Arabic for "visiting place." Al-Ziyarah receives its name from a double-domed shrine located in the town. The dome is white and surrounded by oak trees. It has a view over the surrounding plain and the Nusayriyah Mountain range.Lyde, Samuel.
The Asian Mystery Illustrated in the History, Religion, and Present State of the Ansaireeh or Nusairis of Syria
'. Longman, Green, Longman, and Roberts: (1860). Prior to 1960 the ''nahiyah'' of al-Ziyarah was part of the Idlib Governorate, after which it became a part of the Hama Governorate. In 1970 the average household in al-Ziyarah consisted of nearly nine members. An irrigation project for 17,400 hectares in the al-Ziyarah area was started in 1990. The project was completed with the construction of the

Zeyzoun Dam The Zeyzoun Dam is a failed embankment dam near Zayzun, Hama Governorate, Syria. It impounded water pumped from the nearby Orontes River. The dam was completed in 1996 and its primary purpose was the irrigation of about . The dam's reservoir ...

in 1995. On 4 June 2002 the dam collapsed causing mass flooding in the area. Five towns, including al-Ziyarah, saw hundreds of homes either destroyed or severely damaged, prompting the Syrian government to request urgent international aid. Out of a total of ten people killed, five, including two women, two children and an employee of the dam, were residents of al-Ziyarah. On 5 November 2012, during the ongoing Syrian Civil War between the Syrian government and opposition rebels, a car bomb exploded outside a government-run development agency in al-Ziyarah. While state media claimed two people were killed and 10 injured, opposition activists claimed the attack left 50 Syrian soldiers and pro-government

militiamen A militia () is generally an army or some other fighting organization of non-professional soldiers, citizens of a country, or subjects of a state, who may perform military service during a time of need, as opposed to a professional force of r ...

dead.Several killed in Syria car bombings
''

BBC News BBC News is an operational business division of the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) responsible for the gathering and broadcasting of news and current affairs in the UK and around the world. The department is the world's largest broad ...

''. 2012-11-05.

References

Bibliography

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Ziyarah Populated places in al-Suqaylabiyah District Towns in Syria Populated places in al-Ghab Plain