Qurfays (, also spelled Qurfeis or Korfeis) 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

Jableh District Jableh District () is a district of the Latakia Governorate in northwestern Syria. Administrative centre is the city of Jableh. At the 2004 census, the district had a population of 196,171. Agriculture has remained the most important economic sec ...

in the

Latakia Governorate Latakia Governorate ( / ALA-LC: ''Muḥāfaẓat al-Lādhiqīyah''), also transliterated as Ladhakia, is one of the 14 Governorates of Syria, governorates of Syria. It is situated in northwestern Syria, bordering Turkey's Hatay Province to the no ...

, located south of

Latakia Latakia (; ; Syrian Arabic, Syrian pronunciation: ) is the principal port city of Syria and capital city of the Latakia Governorate located on the Mediterranean coast. Historically, it has also been known as Laodicea in Syria or Laodicea ad Mar ...

. Nearby localities include

Arab al-Mulk Arab al-Mulk (, also spelled Arab al-Milk, Beldi al-Melek, Balda al-Milk or Beldeh) is a coastal village in northwestern Syria, administratively part of the Jableh District in the Latakia Governorate, located south of Latakia. Nearby localities inc ...

to the west,

Jableh Jableh (; ', also spelt ''Jebleh'', ''Jabala'', ''Jablah, Gabala'' or ''Gibellum'') is a Mediterranean coastal city in Syria, north of Baniyas and south of Latakia, with c. 80,000 inhabitants (2004 census). As Ancient ''Gabala'', it was a By ...

to the northwest, al-Aqibah and

al-Qutailibiyah Al-Qutailibiyah (, also spelled Kotailabiyah or Qutelbyeh) is a town in northwestern Syria, administratively part of the Jableh District in the Latakia Governorate, located south of Latakia. Nearby localities include Arab al-Mulk and Qurfays and ...

to the northeast, Sarabion and

Dweir Baabda Dweir Baabda (, Duwayr Ba'bda or Duweir Baabda) is a village in northwestern Syria administratively part of the Latakia Governorate, located southeast of Latakia. It is situated off a secondary road, at the summit of a mountain in the coastal Nus ...

to the southeast. According to the Syria Central Bureau of Statistics, Qurfays had a population of 5,566 in the 2004 census.General Census of Population and Housing 2004
Syria Central Bureau of Statistics (CBS). Latakia Governorate. Its inhabitants are predominantly

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 ...

s and is one of the centers of the large Douba family.

Ali Douba Ali Issa Ibrahim Duba (, 1933 – 21 June 2023), better known as Ali Douba, was a Syrian military officer who was the head of the Military Intelligence Directorate of Syria under Hafez al-Assad as well as his close adviser. Under Douba’s lead ...

, the former longtime Chief of

Military Intelligence Military intelligence is a military discipline that uses information collection and analysis List of intelligence gathering disciplines, approaches to provide guidance and direction to assist Commanding officer, commanders in decision making pr ...

. The municipality of Qurfays was established in 1979 to administer the local affairs of the village as well as nearby al-Barazin, al-Zahra, Bishnana and Mahwarta. There are about 7,000 people living in the municipality whose mayor in 2008 was Abdullah Ehsan.

History

Qurfays served as minor fortress village under the authority of the

Knights Hospitallers The Order of Knights of the Hospital of Saint John of Jerusalem, commonly known as the Knights Hospitaller (), is a Catholic military order. It was founded in the crusader Kingdom of Jerusalem in the 12th century and had headquarters there u ...

fortress of

Margat Margat, also known as Marqab (), is a castle near Baniyas, Syria, which was a Crusader fortress and one of the major strongholds of the Knights Hospitaller. It is located around from the Mediterranean coast and approximately south of Baniyas. ...

in the 13th-century and was referred to as ''Corveis''. In 1271 the Mamluk sultan

Baibars Al-Malik al-Zahir Rukn al-Din Baybars al-Bunduqdari (; 1223/1228 – 1 July 1277), commonly known as Baibars or Baybars () and nicknamed Abu al-Futuh (, ), was the fourth Mamluk sultan of Egypt and Syria, of Turkic Kipchak origin, in the Ba ...

defeated the Crusaders in the coastal mountain range of Syria and forced the Hospitallers to evacuate Qurfays, among other fortresses.Riley-Smith, 2012, p. 211. However, before they withdrew, they destroyed Qurfays and nearby Balda. In the 1281 treaty between Mamluk sultan

Qalawun (, – November 10, 1290) was the seventh Turkic Bahri Mamluk sultan of Egypt; he ruled from 1279 to 1290. He was called (, "Qalāwūn the Victorious"). After having risen in power in the Mamluk court and elite circles, Qalawun eventually hel ...

and the Crusader king

Bohemond IV of Antioch Bohemond IV of Antioch, also known as Bohemond the One-Eyed (; 11751233), was Count of Tripoli from 1187 to 1233, and Prince of Antioch from 1201 to 1216 and from 1219 to 1233. He was the younger son of Bohemond III of Antioch. The dying Raymond ...

, Qurfays was among the many fortresses officially handed to the Mamluks.Holt, 1995, p. 63.

References

Bibliography

* * * * {{Latakia Governorate, jableh Populated places in Jableh District Castles and fortifications of the Knights Hospitaller Alawite communities in Syria