Tartus

Tartus is Syria's second port and the most relaxed of its cities, and its old town is a curiosity: houses built into and over the walls of the crusader city of Tortosa, so that medieval halls serve as living rooms and lanes duck through fortress gates. The cathedral of Our Lady of Tortosa, a fortified Romanesque-Gothic church, survives complete and houses the city museum. The seafront corniche fills in the evening, and boats cross to Arwad island offshore.

Background

Settlement here dates to the 2nd millennium BC, and in the County of Tripoli the city went by the name Tortosa. In the 3rd century the town gained the first chapel dedicated to the Virgin. Church records name bishops of Antaradus, among them Alexander at the Council of Chalcedon in 451, and in 1295 the see was united with that of Famagosta in Cyprus. Tartus is now the largest city in Tartus Governorate and the second port of Syria after Latakia, with 458,327 people in a 2023 estimate. It covers 20 km2 of land at an elevation of 22 m, and in summer many Syrians come here on holiday.

Source: Wikipedia, "Tartus"

What's there

• The cathedral - the fortified church of Our Lady of Tortosa.
• The old town in the fortress - houses grown into crusader walls.
• The corniche - the evening seafront promenade.
• The Arwad boats - the crossing to the island offshore.

When to go

April to June and September to November are mild and clear. Summer is humid but the sea softens it. Evenings on the corniche are the city's best hours.

Before you go

The museum's opening is irregular. The old town is lived-in and unrestored - part of its charm, but expect washing lines rather than presentation. Beaches in the city itself are ordinary.

Nearby

Arwad is offshore, and Amrit is south along the coast.

Key facts