Syria

Banias

38km north of Tartous and nearly 50km south of Latakia is the town of Banias. This town goes back a long way, it was built by the Arvadians of Arwad as a Phoenician colony. 

Banias was also important in the time of the Crusaders, known as Valenie or Valenia, it was taken over by the Mameluke troops of Sultan Al Khalil after the fall of Tartous about 1285. The river which has dug the valley between here and Masyaf used to be the natural border between Antioch and Jerusalem. 

Recently the pipeline running from Kirkuk in Iraq to the Mediterranean ends here and as a result of a large refinery being built here Banias has developed and grown quickly into an industrial town.