The Ancient Harbour of Jableh

The old town of Jableh opens onto the sea through this small harbour: a natural half-moon cove in the middle of the shore, ringed by houses and facing west. It has one main entrance with an inner basin behind it. Today it is a working fishing harbour, and part of the quay where the boats tie up rests on courses of ancient stone that you can tell apart from the modern concrete once you look.

Getting there

The harbour lies on the west side of central Jableh. The streets running down to the sea from the Roman theatre and the mosque of Ibrahim ibn Adham bring you to the quay in a few minutes. Minibuses on the coast road south from Latakia enter Jableh; walking into the centre is easier than driving.

What to see

The north quay is 40 metres long and twelve and a half metres wide. It was built of sandstone and limestone blocks laid on the natural rock, and four courses are still in place. At its south-east corner a stair three steps deep and 280 centimetres wide leads down to the boats; the stones carry traces of repairs made in the Crusader period.

The south quay is known locally as al-Mutabbaka. It is made of five large cut blocks, each more than two metres long. Under the water, at a depth of 6 metres, a rubble breakwater runs for 50 metres; it cannot be seen from the surface. On the northern headland of the cove are the remains of a fortification and caves cut into the rock.

Where the harbour traded

Expansion work in 2004 turned up grey granite columns, which suggest a temple may have stood on the shore. The same work produced pottery from the Hellenistic to the Ottoman period, made in Rhodes, Cyprus, Antioch and North Africa. The geographer Ibn Hawqal wrote in the 10th century that traffic in the harbour never stopped, night or day. In the Crusader period its trade was in the hands of the Genoese.

The harbour today

Because the harbour is still in use, it has kept changing. A modern expansion costing around 60 million SYP erased the natural round shape of the cove and some of the old traces. An old domed structure was buried when the seafront road was built. The ancient blocks that remain sit among nets, boats and new concrete.

How long it takes

Forty minutes. That is enough to walk from the north quay to the southern end and look at the rocks of the headland. It fits easily into the same half day as the theatre and the mosque in the centre of Jableh.

What most people miss

The stair at the south-east corner of the north quay. Three broad steps go down to the boats, and the Crusader repairs are visible on the face of the stones. Most people take this corner for an ordinary landing and walk past.