Latakia… A City That Opened Its Eyes to the Sea

More than two thousand years ago, ships would approach the shores of Latakia carrying merchants, travelers, and news from across the Mediterranean. Along this coast, a city emerged — one that learned to always look toward the horizon.

Latakia was known in the Hellenistic era as “Laodicea,” founded by the Seleucids in the third century BCE. It later became one of the most important cities on the Syrian coast during the Roman and Byzantine periods. Through its port, goods from Syria’s interior crossed into the cities of the Mediterranean, while the sea brought back cultures and stories from different corners of the world.

For long centuries, the people of Latakia lived between the sea and the orchards. Fishermen returned at dawn, merchants watched the movement of ships, and families built their homes around the markets and old neighborhoods whose traces can still be seen today.

The images shown here date back to 1866, more than 150 years ago. At that time, Latakia was a relatively quiet coastal city, surrounded by greenery on one side and the open sea on the other. When we look at these images today, we do not merely see old stones and streets; we see the lives of people who once passed through this place, and a port that breathed with every ship arriving or departing.

Latakia has changed greatly since then, yet its relationship with the sea has remained the same. The sea is still part of the city’s memory, part of the character of its people, and a witness to long centuries of Syrian history written along this coast.

The attached images document scenes from the city of Latakia in 1866 AD.