Qurfays
قرفيص Qorfeis | |
---|---|
Village | |
Coordinates: 35°15′59″N 35°59′19″E / 35.26639°N 35.98861°E | |
Country | Syria |
Governorate | Latakia |
District | Jableh |
Subdistrict | al-Qutailibiyah |
Population (2004)
[1] | |
• Total | 799 |
Time zone | UTC+2 ( EET) |
• Summer ( DST) | UTC+3 ( EEST) |
Qurfays ( Arabic: قرفيص, also spelled Qurfeis or Korfeis) is a village in northwestern Syria, administratively part of the Jableh District in the Latakia Governorate, located south of Latakia. Nearby localities include Arab al-Mulk to the west, Jableh to the northwest, al-Aqibah and al-Qutailibiyah to the northeast, Sarabion and Dweir Baabda to the southeast. According to the Syria Central Bureau of Statistics, Qurfays had a population of 5,566 in the 2004 census. [1] Its inhabitants are predominantly Alawites and is one of the centers of the large Douba family. Ali Douba, the former longtime Chief of Military Intelligence. [2]
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. [3]
Qurfays served as minor fortress village under the authority of the Knights Hospitallers fortress of Margat in the 13th-century and was referred to as Corveis. [4] In 1271 the Mamluk sultan Baibars defeated the Crusaders in the coastal mountain range of Syria and forced the Hospitallers to evacuate Qurfays, among other fortresses. [5] However, before they withdrew, they destroyed Qurfays and nearby Balda. [5] [6] In the 1281 treaty between Mamluk sultan Qalawun and the Crusader king Bohemond IV of Antioch, Qurfays was among the many fortresses officially handed to the Mamluks. [7]