From the Enc. Britt.: "Arabic Al-lâdhiqîyah, city and muḥâfaẓah (governorate), northwestern Syria. The city, capital of the governorate, is situated on the low-lying Raʿs Ziyârah promontory that projects into the Mediterranean Sea. It was known to the Phoenicians as Ramitha and to the Greeks as Leuke Akte. Its present name is a corruption of Laodicea, for the mother of Seleucus II (3rd century BC). Ancient Ramitha replaced the earlier settlement of Ugarit (Ras Shamra) to the north, which was destroyed in the 12th century BC. During the Seleucid period (3rd and 2nd centuries BC), it flourished as a port and one of north Syria's principal cities, but in the following centuries earthquakes twice destroyed the city. Latakia was taken in AD 638 by the Arabs, in 1103 by the crusaders, and in 1188 by Saladin. Subsequently the town was administered by Christians from Tripoli, Muslims from Ḥamâh, and the Ottoman Turks; it came within the French mandate of Syria and Lebanon in 1920. Latakia is now the principal port of Syria; it is located on a good harbour, with an extensive agricultural hinterland. Exports include bitumen and asphalt, cereals, cotton, fruit, eggs, vegetable oil, pottery, and tobacco. Cotton ginning, vegetable-oil processing, tanning, and sponge fishing are local industries. The University of Latakia was founded in 1971 and renamed Gamiʾt Tishrîn (University of October) in 1976. The city is linked by road to Aleppo, Tripoli, and Beirut. All but a few classical buildings have been destroyed, often by earthquakes; those remaining include a Roman triumphal arch and Corinthian columns known as the colonnade of Bacchus."

I went there mainly to use it as a base for visits to, for instance, Ugarit and Saladin’s Castle. But then again, I liked the town for its own sake. I found some stylish “old modern” buildings, a very few real old ones, and lots of modern buildings, of which I show only a few. The town, the country was preparing for the end of Ramadan, hence some fairground material was being built. The museum has some fine pieces, not many, but is worth a visit. I may add some captions later, now I just show what pictures I took.