Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
The historic centre of Tartus consists of more recent buildings, built on and inside the walls
of the Crusader-era Templar fortress; whose moat still separates the old town from the
modern city. Outside the fortress little historic remains, with the exception of the former
Cathedral of Notre-Dame of Tartus, from the 12
th
Century. The church is now a museum.
There was some publicity about how former President Hafez Assad and his predominantly
Islamic administration had promised to return the site to the Christians as a symbol of deep
Christianity in Syria; however, he died before the promise was executed. Assad's son, Pres-
ident Bashar Assad, has claimed to honor his father's promise, although they seem to be
still waiting.
In recent years the city has experienced a major expansion due to Iraqi imports coming
through the port to aid reconstruction efforts in Iraq. Tartus also hosts a Soviet-era naval
supply and maintenance base. In particular, the Russian Navy's 5
th
Mediterranean Squadron
uses the base and it has been reported that Russia and Syria are conducting talks about per-
mitting Russia to develop and enlarge the base in order to establish a stronger naval pres-
ence in the Mediterranean.
A significant proportion of women were without headscarves, more than those with them.
This was explained by Mohammed as a combination of the religious profile in the area and
the more relaxed view of religion along the coastal areas running down to Lebanon.
One of the group had been walking during early morning and passed a butcher shop where
the proprietor had the fish laid out on the pavement for a hosing. This story only reinforced
my earlier view about not eating fish. Just to emphasise the issue of hygiene, we passed by
the butcher's shop as we were leaving. This time they were slaughtering sheep in the gutter.
I'm pleased I had a vegetarian pizza for dinner.
