Al-Zabadani
| Al-Zabadani الزبداني Az-Zabadani |
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Al-Zabadani
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 Al-Zabadani
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| Country |  Syria |
| Governorate | Rif Dimashq Governorate |
| District | al-Zabadani District |
| Nahiyah | Al-Zabadani |
| Occupation |  Jaish al-Haramoun (al-Nusra) (until September 2015) |
| Elevation | 1,100 m (3,600 ft) |
| Population (2004 census)[1] | |
| • Total | 26,285 |
| Area code(s) | 13 |
Al-Zabadani or Az-Zabadani (Arabic: الزبداني) is a city and popular hill station in southwestern Syria in the Rif Dimashq Governorate, close to the border with Lebanon. It is located in the center of a green valley surrounded by high mountains at an elevation of around 1,100 m. According to the Syria Central Bureau of Statistics (CBS), Al-Zabadani had a population of 26,285 in the 2004 census.[1]
Overview
Compared to Damascus, the weather in Al-Zabadani tends to be milder in summer, about 5–8 degrees lower, but from December to the end of February it is colder with a lot of snow, and the temperature drops to −10 degrees. The mild summer weather, along with scenic views, led the French colonial rulers to develop the city as a traditional summer resort and hill station, and has made the town a popular resort, both for tourists and for visitors from Syrian cities on the plains, especially nearby Damascus, and for tens of thousands of visitors from the Arabian peninsula. A more elevated region than Al-Zabadani is its neighbour Bloudan, also a resort for thousands of tourists. Bloudan is about 1,500 metres above sea level.
Al-Zabadani is predominantly Sunni, with a substantial percentage of Christians, who have their own church and monastery. Al-Zabadani is rapidly growing and is well connected to Damascus.
The Scouts of Syria have a national training center at Al-Zabadani, where the first Arab Jamboree was held in 1954.
Syrian civil war
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On January 18, 2012, Al-Zabadani became the first city to fall under the control of the Free Syrian Army, following a bloody battle that lasted 11 days.[2] On February 11, the Syrian Army regained control of the city.
The city of Al-Zabadani is vitally important to Syria's government and to Iran because, at least as late as June 2011, the city served as the Iranian Guard Corps's logistical hub for supplying Hezbollah.[3]
By late July, the town had become a base of operations for Hezbollah and the Iranian Guards.[4] In August local fighters in Zabadani retook 70% of the town with only a few isolated army checkpoints remaining.[5] On February 28, 2014, a truce was reached between government and rebel forces.[6] Later it was reported that the truce broke down and that rebels attacked government checkpoints, with the government besieging and shelling the town.[7] On 26 April 2014, rebels surrendered after intense fighting with government troops, losing their last stronghold along Lebanon's border,[8] only to regain control of the city months later.[citation needed] Following an extended besieging by the SAA and the Hezbollah, a U.N.-brokered agreement was finally signed in September 2015, under which the city was successively evacuated by the rebels and city control ceded back to the Syrian government.
City twinning
See also
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 General Census of Population and Housing 2004. Syria Central Bureau of Statistics (CBS). Rif Dimashq Governorate. (Arabic)
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