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Kesab or Kassab or Kessab (Arabic: كسب, Armenian: Քեսապ pronounced Ke'sab) is a Syrian border town located in Latakia Governorate (Muhafazat al Ladhiqiyah) north west of the country, on the slope of Cassius Mountain (Al-Jabal Al-Aqraa which means the hairless or the bald mountain).
[edit] PreviewAdministratively, Kessab belongs to Latakia District; one of the governorate's four Manatiq, and has around 3,500 inhabitants. The town is 65 kilometers north of Latakia, just 3 kilometers away from the Turkish border (which is the former Syrian province of Alexandretta), and 17 kilometers from the Mediterranean sea. Being at 800 meters above sea level in the middle of a dense coniferous Mediterranean forest makes the town a popular summer destination. Kessab is an ancient Armenian town, which dates back to the period of Armenian Kingdom of Cilicia. The population today is mainly Armenian[1] with an Alawite Arab minority. The town is surrounded with small villages with a population of Armenian majority such as Esguran, Duzaghach, Ekizolukh, Chinarjekh, Keorkuneh, Cakhaljekh, Karadouran, Chalma, Baghjaghas etc. [edit] History[2] The region of Kessab was part of the ancient civilization that spread from the Syrian coasts up to the Orontes River, six millenia ago. During the Seleucid period the Kessab region was at the centre of the triad comprised Antioch, Seleucia and Laodicea. The Laodicea-Seleucia coast road passed by the Karadouran bay wheras the Laodicea-Antioch road passed thorugh the Duzaghaj valley. The Cassius Mountain at those times, was believed to have been the sanctuary of Zeus. During the rein of Tigranes The Great and later the Roman era, the Syrian coast flourished greatly and have had a positive affect on the development of the Kessab region. There are no written sources about the primitive history of the Kessab region, but the first record of the name of Kessab was mentioned in a historical document dates bak to the Crusaders period when Duke Belmont I granted the region of "Kasbisi" to the family of Peter the Hermit. Kasbisi, Cassembella or Cassabella are the names from which "Kessab was derived". Being on the borders of the Armenian Kingdom of Cilicia, the region of Kessab was gradually developing by its Armenian migrants. A research conducted on the peculiarities of the Kessab Armenian dialect and the dialects of the Armenians in the region of Alexandretta and Suweidiyeh, shows that the Armenians of Kessab and the surrounding villages are the remainders of migrants who came from the region of Antioch. The migration of the Armenians to the region increased in the 14th and the 15th centuries, during the Memluk and the Ottoman periods, in an attempt to avoid persecutions, trying to find much more safer mountainous regions such as Kessab and Musa Dagh. The first Armenian refugees settled in the area which is called now Esguran. After a period they moved uphill and settlled in the area now called the town of Kessab, turning it to a centre of the whole region and the destination of new refugees. During 1850s Kessab turned into a mission field with the arrival of Evangelical and Catholic missionaries rising anger among the Armenians of the region who were following the Armenian Apostolic Church. In the beginning of the 20th century, the population of Kessab region was around 6000 (all Armenians), with more than 20 schools, as a result of denominational and polititical devisions. The first agonizing disaster in Kessab happened in 1909. A rabble of 5,000 Turkish men invaded Kessab from the eastern border on the 10th till the 23rd of April 1909. The Turks succeeded to destroy a part of the town despite the armed resistance of almost 300 weapon carrying Armenian villagers. This calamity costed the Armenians 161 deaths and a massive material loss. After the calamity, Catholicos Sahag I Khabaian visited Kessab.  The Armenian Genocide in 1915 reopened the unhealed wound caused by the 1909 calamity. The command of the genocide initiation arrived in Kessab on the 26th of July to start deportations within 5 days. First, the people expressed a desire to rebel and fortify on the mountain Dounag located in Karadouran. The priest Bedros Papoujian-Aprahamian, the priest of Karadouran, particularly supported the idea of the opposition, but on the real ground, the whole idea failed to become a reality. The genocide of the Armenians in Kessab's region started form Karadouran. The Armenians were deported in two directions: one towards the dessert of Der Zor and the other towards the south to the desert of Jordan. Almost five thousand Armenians were killed during this deportation process[3]. Some died in Jeser Al Shoughour, some in Hama or Homs while others on the way to Damascus or Jordan. The majority of the refugees were killed in the desert of Der Zor. After the cease-fire, the Armenians who survived the genocide returned to Kessab in a process that lasted till 1920. But the eastern and northern areas of the region still remained unsecured, because they were constantly vulnerable to attacks from neighboring Turkish villages. A voluntary group of 40 men succeeded to fail many attempts of bandits to invade the region at that time. In 1922, peace was established after the entrance of the French troops into Kessab.   On the 5th of July 1938, the Turkish army entered the region of Antioch (the province of Alexandretta), in an agreement with the French colonial authorities, and the region was renamed as the province of Hatay. On the 2nd of September, the Hatay government became officially authorized and it identified its boundaries including Kessab within their restriction. The Turkish army and employees outraged and exploited against the Hatay government and some serious armed skirmishes took place in the region. Consequently, many Armenians left Kessab for Lebanon or took refuge in the mountains. Many important personalities visited Kessab during that time. On the 23rd of June 1939, the Hatay government was officially dissolved and the whole region was joined to turkey. Luckily, by the efforts of the Cardinal Krikor Bedros Aghajanian and Remi Leprert, the Papal representative in Syria and Lebanon, the parts of Kessab inhabited by Armenians were separated from Turkey and placed within the Syrian bounderies. The result of this operation was that the Cassius Mountain was attached to the Turkish side including the farms, the fields, the properties, the laurel tree forests and the grazing lands located in the mount's bosoms and valleys, which once used to belong to the native Armenians. [edit] Churches  The town has three operating Armenian churches, with many others in the surrounding villages: The three churches of the town are the followings: 1. The Holy Mother Of God (Saint Mary) Armenian Apostolic Church of Kessab (dates back to the middle ages, renovated in 1880). 2. The Holy Trinity Armenian Evangelical Church of Kessab (1853). 3. Saint Michael the Archangel Armenian Catholic Church of Kessab (1925). On 18 October 2009, His Holiness Aram I Catholicos (of the Holy See of Cilicia), consecrated the new St. Mary's Church in the town of Karadouran, to replace the old church which had been built in 1950 and was about to crumble[4] [edit] Modern Kessab  Nowadays there are around 3000 thousand Armenian inhabitants in Kessab and the surrounding villages, mainly involved in agriculture. They have their own dialect of the Armenian language which is still in use even among the new generation. The number of Kessab's visitors usually grows during summers, especially in the month of August when a lot of Armenians choose this mountainous town, to celebrate the Assumption of Virgin Mary. Significant groups of Armenian scout movements visit Kessab to attend their summer camping programmes. During thae last 20 years the town witnessed a construction booming with the inauguration of several high-class hotels, luxurious residential buildings and the renovation of the existing churches. An Armenian high school and educational centre is being built by the Armenian Prelacy of Aleppo since 2008. Kessab is very famous for its high-quality laurel soaps and for its tasty apples. [edit] Notable PeopleCatholicos Karekin I Sarkissian of All Armenians was born (as Neshan Sarkissian) and ejucated in Kessab. The Syrian-Armenian well known linguist and novelist Hagop Cholakian is also from the town of Kessab. [edit] Gallery
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[edit] External linksCoordinates: 35°55′N 35°59′E / 35.917°N 35.983°E
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