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Baniyas

Coordinates:35°10′56″N35°56′25″E/ 35.18222°N 35.94028°E/35.18222; 35.94028
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
This article is about the port city in Syria. For other uses, seeBaniyas (disambiguation).
Not to be confused withBanias.
For BaniyaGurjarclan, seeBaniya (clan).
Baniyas
بَانِيَاس
City
General view of city
General view of city
Baniyas is located in Syria
Baniyas
Baniyas
Location in Syria
Coordinates:35°10′56″N35°56′25″E/ 35.18222°N 35.94028°E/35.18222; 35.94028
CountrySyria
GovernorateTartous
DistrictBaniyas
SubdistrictBaniyas
Elevation
25 m (82 ft)
Population
(2009 est.)
• Total43,000
Time zoneUTC+2(EET)
• Summer (DST)UTC+3(EEST)
Area code43
GeocodeC5360
ClimateCsa

Baniyas(Arabic:بَانِيَاسBāniyās) is aMediterraneancoastal city inTartous Governorate,northwesternSyria,located 55 km (34 mi) south ofLatakiaand 35 km (22 mi) north ofTartous.

It is known for its citrus fruit orchards and its export of wood. North of the city is anoil refinery,one of the largest in Syria, and apower station.The oil refinery is connected with Iraq by theKirkuk–Baniyas pipeline(now defunct).

On a nearby hill stands theCrusader castleofMargat(Qalaat el-Marqab), a hugeKnights Hospitallerfortress built with blackbasaltstone.

History[edit]

Ancient[edit]

InPhoenicianand Hellenistic times, it was an important seaport. Some have identified it with the Hellenistic city ofLeucas(from colonists from the islandLefkada), in Greece, mentioned byStephanus of Byzantium.It was a colony ofAradus,[1]and was placed by Stephanus in the lateRoman provinceofPhoenicia,though it belonged rather to the province ofSyria.[2]InGreekandLatin,it is known asBalanaeaorBalanea(Βαλανέαι).

Modern[edit]

See also:Siege of Baniyas

During the early 21st centurySyrian civil war,rebel sources reported that amassacretook place on 2 May 2013, perpetrated by regime forces.[3]On 3 May,[4]another massacre was, according toSOHR,perpetrated in the Ras al-Nabaa district of Baniyas causing hundreds of Sunni residents to flee their homes.[5]According to one opposition report, a total of 77 civilians, including 14 children, were killed.[6]Another two opposition groups documented, by name, 96–145 people who are thought to have been executed in the district.[7][8]Four pro-government militiamen and two soldiers were also killed in the area in clashes with rebel fighters.[9]

Climate[edit]

Baniyas has ahot-summer Mediterranean climate(Köppen climate classificationCsa). Rainfall is higher in winter than in summer. The average annual temperature in Baniyas is 19.3 °C (66.7 °F). About 862 mm (33.94 in) of precipitation falls annually.

Climate data for Baniyas
Month Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Year
Mean daily maximum °C (°F) 15.0
(59.0) 		16.1
(61.0) 		18.7
(65.7) 		22.3
(72.1) 		25.9
(78.6) 		29.1
(84.4) 		30.7
(87.3) 		31.6
(88.9) 		30.3
(86.5) 		27.5
(81.5) 		22.6
(72.7) 		16.8
(62.2) 		23.9
(75.0)
Mean daily minimum °C (°F) 7.6
(45.7) 		8.0
(46.4) 		9.9
(49.8) 		12.5
(54.5) 		15.6
(60.1) 		19.3
(66.7) 		21.9
(71.4) 		22.2
(72.0) 		19.9
(67.8) 		17.3
(63.1) 		12.6
(54.7) 		9.2
(48.6) 		14.7
(58.4)
Averageprecipitationmm (inches) 159
(6.3) 		147
(5.8) 		123
(4.8) 		50
(2.0) 		26
(1.0) 		2
(0.1) 		1
(0.0) 		1
(0.0) 		12
(0.5) 		49
(1.9) 		94
(3.7) 		198
(7.8) 		862
(33.9)
Source: Climate-Data.org,Climate data

Bishopric[edit]

The bishopric of Balanea was asuffraganofApamea,the capital of theRoman provinceofSyria Secunda,as is attested in a 6th-centuryNotitiae Episcopatuum.[10]When Justinian established a new civil province, Theodorias, with Laodicea as metropolis, Balanea was incorporated into it, but continued to depend ecclesiastically on Apamea, till it obtained the status of an exempt bishopric directly subject to the Patriarch of Antioch.[2]

Its first known bishop, Euphration, took part in theCouncil of Nicaeain 325 and was exiled by theAriansin 335 later Timotheus was at both theRobber Councilof Ephesus in 449 and theCouncil of Chalcedonin 451. In 536, Theodorus was one of the signatories of a letter to the emperorJustinianagainstSeverus of Antiochand other non-Chalcedonians. Stephanus participated in theSecond Council of Constantinoplein 553.[11][12]

During theCrusades,Balanea became anepiscopal seeof theLatin Church,calledValeniaorValaniain the West. It was situated within thePrincipality of Antiochand wassuffraganto the Latinmetropolitan seeof Apamea, whose archbishop intervened in the nomination of bishops of the suffragan see in 1198 and 1215.[13][14][15]For reasons of security, the bishop lived in Margat Castle.[2]

No longer a residential bishopric, Balanea is today listed by theCatholic Churchas atitular see.[16]

People[edit]

References[edit]

Wikimedia Commons has media related toBaniyas.

This article incorporates text from a publication now in thepublic domain:Vailhé, Siméon (1907). "Balanaea".In Herbermann, Charles (ed.).Catholic Encyclopedia.Vol. 2. New York: Robert Appleton Company.

  1. ^Strabo,Geographica,16.2.12 (Greek sourceandEnglish translation)
  2. ^abcSiméon Vailhé, "Balanaea" inCatholic Encyclopedia(New York 1907)
  3. ^"Syrians flee 'massacres' in Baniyas and al-Bayda,"BBC (4 May 2013). Retrieved 6 May 2013.
  4. ^"At least 62 bodies found in Syria's Banias: watchdog".Bangkokpost.Retrieved2014-01-06.
  5. ^"Syrians flee coastal town after mass killings".Aljazeera.Retrieved2014-01-06.
  6. ^Jim Muir (2013-05-04)."Syrians flee 'massacres' in Baniyas and al-Bayda".Bbc.co.uk.Retrieved2014-01-06.
  7. ^The Violations Documenting Center in Syria."VDC Martyrs".Vdc-sy.info.Retrieved2014-01-06.
  8. ^"145 civilians (34 children, 40 women, 71 men) killed in the Banias massacre".Facebook.Retrieved2014-01-06.
  9. ^"Death toll for Friday 3/5/2013: More than 130 people killed yesterday in Syria".Facebook.Retrieved2014-01-06.
  10. ^Echos d'Orient1907,p. 94.
  11. ^Michel Lequien,Oriens christianus in quatuor Patriarchatus digestus,Paris 1740, Vol. II, coll. 921-924
  12. ^Pius Bonifacius Gams,Series episcoporum Ecclesiae Catholicae,Leipzig 1931, p. 436
  13. ^Konrad Eubel,Hierarchia Catholica Medii Aevi,vol. 8, p. 139
  14. ^Jean Richard,Note sur l'archidiocèse d'Apamée et les conquêtes de Raymond de Saint-Gilles en Syrie du Nord,inSyria. Archéologie, Art et histoire,Year 1946, Volume 25, n° 1, pp. 103–108 (especially p. 107)
  15. ^Du Cange,Les familles d’outre-mer,Paris 1869, p. 814
  16. ^Annuario Pontificio 2013(Libreria Editrice Vaticana 2013ISBN978-88-209-9070-1), p. 845
  17. ^Free Syrian Translators: Faces from the Syrian Revolution: Anas Al-Sheghri

35°10′56″N35°56′25″E/ 35.18222°N 35.94028°E/35.18222; 35.94028

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