Burj al-Arab ( ar, برج العرب, also known as Ain al-'Arab) is a village in northwestern Syria, administratively part of the

Homs Governorate Homs Governorate ( ar, مُحافظة حمص / ALA-LC: ''Muḥāfaẓat Ḥimṣ'') is one of the fourteen governorates (provinces) of Syria. It is situated in central Syria. Its area differs in various sources, from to . It is thus geographic ...

, located west of Homs and just north of

Lebanon Lebanon ( , ar, لُبْنَان, translit=lubnān, ), officially the Republic of Lebanon () or the Lebanese Republic, is a country in Western Asia. It is located between Syria to Lebanon–Syria border, the north and east and Israel to Blue ...

. Nearby localities include al-Tulay'i to the west, al-Sisiniyah to the northwest, al-Mitras to the north, Zweitinah to the northeast, Tell Hawsh to the east and Burj al-Maksur to the south. According to the Syria Central Bureau of Statistics (CBS), Burj al-Arab had a population of 1,434 in the 2004 census.General Census of Population and Housing 2004
Syria Central Bureau of Statistics (CBS). Homs Governorate. Archive

Burj al-Arab tower

Burj al-Arab is the site of a tower by the same name which means the "Tower of the Arabs." It is a small medieval fortress built by the

Crusaders The Crusades were a series of religious wars initiated, supported, and sometimes directed by the Latin Church in the medieval period. The best known of these Crusades are those to the Holy Land in the period between 1095 and 1291 that were in ...

in the early 12th century. It was captured by the

Mamluk Mamluk ( ar, مملوك, mamlūk (singular), , ''mamālīk'' (plural), translated as "one who is owned", meaning " slave", also transliterated as ''Mameluke'', ''mamluq'', ''mamluke'', ''mameluk'', ''mameluke'', ''mamaluke'', or ''marmeluke'') ...

army under Sultan Baibars in 1271. The building is partially ruined and has been largely converted into a stable. The principal construction material used was

basalt Basalt (; ) is an aphanitic (fine-grained) extrusive igneous rock formed from the rapid cooling of low-viscosity lava rich in magnesium and iron (mafic lava) exposed at or very near the surface of a rocky planet or moon. More than 90 ...

ic stone. From the roof of the fortress, the medieval tower at al-Zarah and

Talkalakh Talkalakh ( ar, تَلْكَلَخ, Talkalaḵ) is a city in western Syria administratively belonging to the Homs Governorate as the capital of the Talkalakh District just north of the border with Lebanon and west of Homs. According to the Centra ...

could be seen.Burj Arab
Fortresses of the East. 2006-03-12.

References

Populated places in Talkalakh District {{HomsSY-geo-stub