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Welcome to the city of Homs, previously known as Emesa in western Syria, Middle-East.
By Mark on February 10, 2012
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This is a picture taken from flickr of Demonstration in Homs.
I have been watching the news recently and it keeps going on about the city of Homs in western Syria. This city once upon a time used to be known as Emesa and it is also known as the capital of the Homs Governorate. The city itself, is 501 metres or 1,644 ft above sea level and is 162 kilometres or 101 miles north of the capital city of Syria, Damascus. You will find Homs on the Orontes River, and the city is also known for being a central link between the interior cities and the Mediterranean coast. Now more recently, there have been problems broughto to the city, by a possible civil war, which appears to be getting worst in Syria. There is fighting going on between the free syrian army and the official syrian army. I need to be careful what i say, but there is no don’t in my mind, that the syrian government are planning to hold on to power and convince the world that, there are terrorists causing the problems in the city and the country. To me that is complete and utter madness. And what is this about Russia and China vettoing and saying that the rest of the United Nations want regime change, that might be partly true, but how can you let people suffer like these syrian people are and why would you.
This is a picture taken from flickr of Syria, Homs, The Center of The City.
This is a picture taken from flickr of Homs, Syria.
The amazing thing for me is that this city is full of history, it appears that Homs, has been around since, the 1st century BCE at the time of the Seleucids. This city, then became the capital of a kingdom, which was around the Emesani dynasty, this dynasty gave the city its name. The history of Homs, shows that it was a pagan center of worship for the sun god El-Gabal, and then the city later gained importance in Christianity under the Byzantines. It appears that during a battle by the Muslims in the 7th century, the city became the capital of a district that bore its current name. Also, Homs has always been abit of a battle ground, especially during the Islamic era, when the muslim dynasties, who wanted to take control of Syria, would often fight for Homs due to the city’s strategic position in the area. Sadly, the city started to decline during the Ottomans era, but then started to rebuild it’self, in the 19th century, with the cotton industry, which started to boom and make Homs more respectable in the economy.
This is a picture taken from flickr of Syria, Homs, The Centeral Square, The Clock.
This is a picture taken from flickr of Homs, Syria.
Today, the city has grown and become a major industrial center, and there is a population of at least 800,000 people, and has become the third largest city in Syria after Aleppo to the north and the capital Damascus to the south. One reason, why, Homs has been under attack recently, could be because the population of the city, appears to have a religious diversity, which is made up mainly of Arabic-speaking Sunni Muslims and Alawite and Christian minorities. It may not necessarily, mean anything, but it does appear that alot of the syrians who want freedom, are coming from Homs, but they are coming from other places to in Syria. The city is a great place for people who want to explore and learn about this countries history, you will find historic mosques and churches and also the Krak des Chevaliers, a world heritage site, close by.
This is a picture taken from flickr of The Krak des Chevaliers, Homs, Syria.
- Learn about Homs on Wikipedia:
- Learn about the Homs Governorate on Wikipedia:
- Learn about the Siege of Homs on Wikipedia:
- Learn about the February 2012 bombardment of Homs on Wikipedia:
- Learn about the 2011-2012 Syrian Uprising on Wikipedia:
- Learn about the Gates of Homs on Wikipedia:
- Learn about the Khalid ibn Al-Walid Mosque on Wikipedia:
- Find Homs on Google Maps:
- Find the Krak des Chevaliers on Google Maps:
- Find Syria on Google Maps:
- Find the Middle-East on Google Maps:
Posted in Asia | 3 Comments
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3 Responses to “Welcome to the city of Homs, previously known as Emesa in western Syria, Middle-East.”
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Nick Ramsay, exploring the world from a zabuton in Japan.
6:23 am on February 12th, 2012
Hi Mark. It’s interesting how you describe the Syrian government’s claim that “terrorists” are disrupting the country as “utter madness”.
Imagine for a moment that there were an armed rebellion in the U.S, would the U.S government describe the rebels as “freedom fighters”? No, they’d be called terrorists. And what would the government do? Would they bow to the wishes of foreign countries and allow the rebels to take over government? I highly doubt it. They’d more likely try to stop the uprising.
Russia and China vetoed the UN resolution because it called for regime change. In my mind, they were right to do that because the goal of any intervention should be to prevent violence and bring about peace. Foreign nations don’t have the right to overthrow governments. Once the violence is stopped, then the Syrian people should be given a chance to elect a new leader if they wish.
But step back for a minute and look at the bigger picture. Iran is Syria’s closest ally. Regime change in Syria would be a major blow to Iran. Is it not possible that the US and its allies are supporting and funding the rebels in Syria? After all, the US has a long history of covertly overthrowing foreign governments.
If I may make a prediction. The UN will get involved in Syria, just as they did in Libya. There will be far more bloodshed once the bombs start dropping. When Assad and his government has fallen, a new US-friendly dictator will be installed (just as in Libya), and the noose around Iran will be pulled ever tighter.
7:10 pm on March 2nd, 2012
That Nick is all very true and it does not surprise me at all, here we go again. But there is one tiny there happen to be nuclear weapons in syria and can you imagine what that could cause. Thanks Nick, brilliant comment.
3:04 am on March 9th, 2012
Ah, but there aren’t any nuclear weapons in Syria.