Jebel Zawiyé 1 Ba’uda and Jebel Wastani Kafr Aqareb

Waypoint introductions and full write-ups

1. 1. Jebel Zawiyé 1 Ba’uda

   On the limestone uplands of the Jebel Zawiya in north-western Syria, among olive groves and stony fields, stand the remains of villages abandoned more than a thousand years ago. They are part of the Ancient Villages of Northern Syria, often called the Dead Cities, inscribed as a World Heritage Site in 2011. Ba'uda is one of these sites, with houses, churches, tombs and presses built of finely cut stone between the first and seventh centuries, when the region grew rich on olive oil.

   Read the complete Jebel Zawiyé 1 Ba’uda write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   Jebel Zawiyé 1 Ba’uda is where the day begins. Next is Qal’at Salah El-Din.

2. 2. Qal’at Salah El-Din

   Few castles are as dramatic as the one that sits on a spur of rock in the coastal mountains of Syria, between two deep ravines. Qal'at Salah El-Din, or Saladin's Castle, takes its name from the Muslim leader who captured it from the Crusaders in 1188 on his campaign along the coast, but the story is much older. The site was fortified in Byzantine times, taken by the Crusaders in the early twelfth century, and strengthened with new walls and towers. The great trench that separates the castle from the rest of the ridge is cut out of solid rock, many metres deep, and in the middle of it a slender needle of stone, about twenty-eight metres high, was left standing to carry the drawbridge. It is one of the great sights of medieval military architecture.

   Read the complete Qal’at Salah El-Din write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   Qal’at Salah El-Din comes up about 89 km into the recorded legs. Next is Jebel Wastani Kafr Aqareb.

3. 3. Jebel Wastani Kafr Aqareb

   Along the limestone uplands of north-western Syria, close to the Turkish border, lie the remains of hundreds of abandoned villages from late antiquity, the so-called Dead Cities. Kafr Aqareb, on the Jebel Wastani, is one of them, part of the Ancient Villages of Northern Syria listed by UNESCO in 2011. These were prosperous farming communities between roughly the first and seventh centuries, growing olives, grapes and grain, and producing oil that was traded across the Roman and Byzantine world. They built in stone, with remarkable skill: houses, churches, bath houses, olive presses and tombs, many still standing to roof height. When trade routes shifted and the region changed hands, the villages were gradually abandoned, leaving ghost towns that look as if their inhabitants left only recently.

   Read the complete Jebel Wastani Kafr Aqareb write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   about 183 km into the recorded legs you reach Jebel Wastani Kafr Aqareb. Next is back through Qal’at Salah El-Din.

4. 4. back through Qal’at Salah El-Din

   Return visit. Read the place description above.

   Read the complete Qal’at Salah El-Din write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   back through Qal’at Salah El-Din, late in the day. Next is Jebel Zawiyé 1 Ba’uda.

5. 5. Jebel Zawiyé 1 Ba’uda

   Return visit. Read the place description above.

   Read the complete Jebel Zawiyé 1 Ba’uda write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   Back at Jebel Zawiyé 1 Ba’uda. That is the ride.