Al-Kafrun (; also spelled ''Kafroun'') is a village in northwestern

Syria Syria, officially the Syrian Arab Republic, is a country in West Asia located in the Eastern Mediterranean and the Levant. It borders the Mediterranean Sea to the west, Turkey to Syria–Turkey border, the north, Iraq to Iraq–Syria border, t ...

, administratively part of the

Safita District Safita District () is a Districts of Syria, district of the Tartus Governorate in northwestern Syria. Administrative centre is the city of Safita. At the 2004 census, the district had a population of 129,632. Sub-districts The district of Safita ...

of the

Tartous Governorate Tartus Governorate, also transliterated as Tartous Governorate ( / ALA-LC: ''Muḥāfaẓat Ṭarṭūs''), is one of the 14 governorates of Syria. It is situated in western Syria, bordering Latakia Governorate to the north, Homs and Hama Governor ...

. It is situated in the

an-Nusayriyah Mountains The Coastal Mountain Range (, ''Silsilat al-Jibāl as-Sāḥilīyah'') also called Jabal al-Ansariya, Jabal an-Nusayria or Jabal al-`Alawīyin (Ansari, Nusayri or Alawi Mountains) is a mountain range in northwestern Syria running north–south, ...

at above sea level. It is traditionally a summer resort for locals who want to escape the hot summer temperatures in the lowlands. According to the Syria Central Bureau of Statistics (CBS), Kafroun had a population of 485 in the 2004 census.General Census of Population and Housing 2004
Syria Central Bureau of Statistics (CBS). Tartus Governorate. Its inhabitants are predominantly

Greek Orthodox Christian Greek Orthodox Church (, , ) is a term that can refer to any one of three classes of Christian Churches, each associated in some way with Greek Christianity, Levantine Arabic-speaking Christians or more broadly the rite used in the Eastern Roma ...

s. Al-Kafrun is among five villages in its immediate vicinity bearing this name (the others include Kafrun Badra, Kafrun Haydar, Kafrun Bashur). While Kafrun's inhabitants are Greek Orthodox, the other villages are each inhabited by a different religious group (

Maronite Maronites (; ) are a Syriac Christianity, Syriac Christian ethnoreligious group native to the Eastern Mediterranean and the Levant (particularly Lebanon) whose members belong to the Maronite Church. The largest concentration has traditionally re ...

Melkite The term Melkite (), also written Melchite, refers to various Eastern Christian churches of the Byzantine Rite and their members originating in West Asia. The term comes from the common Central Semitic root ''m-l-k'', meaning "royal", referrin ...

and

Alawite Alawites () are an Arabs, Arab ethnoreligious group who live primarily in the Levant region in West Asia and follow Alawism, a sect of Islam that splintered from early Shia as a ''ghulat'' branch during the ninth century. Alawites venerate A ...

). Al-Kafrun is well known in the area for the annual festival in celebration of the Assumption/Dormition of

Mary Mary may refer to: People * Mary (name), a female given name (includes a list of people with the name) Religion * New Testament people named Mary, overview article linking to many of those below * Mary, mother of Jesus, also called the Blesse ...

on 15 August, held atop the Jabal al-Saideh mountain. Al-Kafrun is the birthplace of the famous Syrian singer

George Wassouf George Wassouf (; 23 December 1961) is a Syrian singer. In a career spanning more than four decades, he has released more than 30 albums, with a significantly large audience of fans throughout the Arab world. Dubbed Sultan El-Tarab (), he is ...

, and the novelist

Halim Barakat Halim Barakat ( December 4, 1931 - June 22, 2023 ) was a Syrian American novelist and sociologist. He was born into a Greek-Orthodox Arab family in Kafroun, Syria, and raised in Beirut. Career Barakat received his bachelor's degree in sociolog ...

References

Sources

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External links

Town website in Arabic
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kafrun Populated places in Safita District Eastern Orthodox Christian communities in Syria