On the road from the town to the port there are four other granite columns lying flat and half buried in the soil, the capitals and pedestals of which are wanting.
In one of the streets of the city there were the remains of an ancient edifice, supposed to have been a temple. Four pillars, parts of two of the sides, were still upright, the shafts not being of a single stone, as is most frequently the case, but of four pieces. They are of the Corinthian order, and the blocks which form the architrave are very large. Within the court where they stood was the tomb of a holy Mahometan, named Shaykh Mohammed. Many devout persons visited the tomb, and hence mats were spread on the ground for the convenience of praying.
But the most perfect specimen of antiquity yet to be seen in Latakia is a square building, said to have been a triumphal arch. This supposed triumphal arch is now converted into a mosque, called Jamâ el Mezyad. It is in the street called Hart el Ashar, a small distance from the foot of the elevated spot of ground which commands Latakia from the east, and upon which once stood a castle or citadel. When the building was entire, the arch between the two pillars was open, but has been since blocked up with rude masonry. The pillars of the Corinthian order and the materials of the building are of a hard stone, quarried in the neighbourhood; on the entablature are figures in bas-relief. Among them may be distinguished rams’ heads with a collar round their necks, and bucklers: the second and fourth compartment (counting from the left) seemed to bear something like robes: the seventh and tenth have the appearance of helmets. But the troublesome curiosity of a crowd of Turks, who collected round me whilst I was drawing, prevented me from making such accurate observations as I could wish to have done.
Within, the dome is supported by eight pilasters, two at each angle of the square; they are Corinthian. Those of the two opposite faces are different, two sets being lower than the other two. The darkness of the inside prevented me from making out the bas-reliefs: for the light cannot enter except by the doorway. No inscription was found within or without. In this mosque the howling dervises perform their religious ceremonies.
I endeavoured to procure a ladder to mount up and examine the bas-reliefs on the outside: but the bystanders, having talked the matter over, said it could not be permitted, as I should thus be enabled to overlook the terraces of several houses in the neighbourhood, where possibly the harýms might be unsuspectingly diverting themselves unveiled.
Numbers of tombs and sarcophagi are to be seen in the environs of the city, but principally to the north of it. The tombs are square chambers, with cells hewn in the sides. Some are cut out singly in the rock. One yet remains where there are three figures sculptured in high relief on the façade; but the figures are unfortunately much mutilated. The entrance to one tomb (four minutes’ walk from the town) had two Ionic pillars: some had pilasters. On the sarcophagi, which are to be found hewn from single blocks of stone or marble, rams’ heads are sculptured with wreaths of flowers; and these seem to have been the most common ornaments. It is not clear whether, in such cases, the block was not originally an altar, and had been subsequently hollowed out, not for the reception of a corpse, but for the purposes of a water-trough.
I observed, with respect to the sepulchres, that no rule is adhered to as to the direction of the head and feet.
There are, likewise, on the seashore, some caves, or chambers, hewn out of the solid rock, on a level with the sea, and which have openings to give the waves a free passage in and out. These are shown as baths, and are of the same construction with those which are to be seen in the neighbourhood of Alexandria, and which are named Cleopatra’s baths.
The site of the ancient city appears to have extended much more to the north-east than the modern town, running between the castle hill and the promontory.
These are all the remains of what this city once was.[71] Its revolutions may be comprehended in a few words. It is one of those cities whose name is pure Greek; for the idiom of the Arabic tongue has transformed the Greek name of Laodicea, which by Europeans is generally called Latakia, into Ladkýah. The city contained 3,000 to 4,000 inhabitants, consisting of Mahometans, Christians, and a few European families. The Greeks had five or six churches, eight curates, and a bishop. There was a monastery for the Franciscans, a solid piece of masonry;[72] but there were no friars: and it was then occupied by the French consul, who let out the lower part as a caravansery. The few catholics who lived here were French and Italian. There was an English agent. Latakia is a dirty town. It was governed by a motsellem. There was a wall round the city, but of no strength, said to have been built by a Christian, one Hanah Kûby, who, in the time of the invasion of Egypt by the French, as I was told, governed the place.