As-Suwayda

As-Suwayda (Arabic: السويداء‎ / ALA-LC romanization: as-Suwaydā’), also spelled Sweida or Swaida, is a mainly Druze city located in southwestern Syria, close to the border with Jordan.

This article is about the capital of as-Suwayda Governorate in southern Syria. For the village in Hama Governorate, western Syria, see Al-Suwaydah, Masyaf.
As-Suwayda

السويداء
City
Suwayda's City aerial view October 2011
As-Suwayda
Location of As-Suwayda within Syria
Coordinates: 32°42′45″N 36°34′00″E
Grid position296/235
Country Syria
Governorateas-Suwayda
Districtas-Suwayda
Subdistrictas-Suwayda
Elevation
3,543 ft (1,080 m)
Population
 (2004 census[1])
 • City73,641
 • Metro
138,822
Time zoneUTC+2 (EET)
 • Summer (DST)UTC+3 (EEST)
Area code(s)16
GeocodeC6147
ClimateCsa

It is the capital of As-Suwayda Governorate, one of Syria's 14 governorates, bordering Jordan in the South and Daraa Governorate in the West and Rif Dimashq Governorate in the north and east. The city is referred to by some as "Little Venezuela" due to the city's influx of affluent Venezuelan Syrian immigrants.[2][3][4][5]

Demographics and population

The inhabitants of the city are mainly Druze with a prominent Greek Orthodox Christians minority.

The population of As-Suwayda Governorate is 313,231 (2004 census). According to estimates from the Venezuelan Embassy in Damascus, almost 60% of the population of As-Suwayda was born in Venezuelan territory and possesses double nationality.[6][7]

History

Ancient and Medieval eras
Town square

The city was founded by the Nabataeans as Suada. It became known as Dionysias Soada (Ancient Greek: Διονῡσιάς) in the Hellenistic period and the Roman Empire, for the god Dionysus, patron of wine - the city is situated in a famous ancient wine-producing region.

The name Dionysias replaced the former Nabataean name in 149 AD after Nabataean influence decreased and then concentrated towards the south, as a result of the then accelerating Hellenization of Coele-Syria.

The agora of Dionysias
The arch of the lesser church
Orthodox Easter celebrations in As-Suwayda

Dionysias was a part of the Roman province of Arabia Petraea, and received the rights of civitas during the reign of Commodus between 180–185.

Dionysus was worshipped in the same Nabatean temple dedicated to Dushara. This practice of associating the worship of local and Hellenic gods was common in Hellenistic Syria.

This name remained in use during the Byzantine Empire, when the town was under the influence of the Ghassanids. Dionysias then was a diocese with a suffragan bishop from Bosra. It was mentioned in the Synecdemus of Hierocles. After the early Muslim conquests it became a titular see.[8]

Yaqut al-Hamawi noted in the 1220s that As Suwaida was "a village of the Hauran Province".[9]

Ottoman era

In 1596 As-Suwayda appeared under the name of Majdal Sawda in the Ottoman tax registers as part of the nahiya (subdistrict) of Bani Nasiyya of the Hauran Sanjak. It had a population of 5 households and 5 bachelors, all Muslim. The villagers paid a fixed tax rate of 20% on various agricultural products, including wheat, barley, summer crops, goats and/or beehives, in addition to "occasional revenues"; a total of 6,125 akçe. 3/4 of the revenue went to a waqf.[10]

In recent times Dionysias was firstly identified as-Suwayda by William Waddington.

Modern era

The city has been held by the government for the duration of the Syrian Civil War and has seen relatively little fighting. On 28 October 2012, security forces launched a campaign of mass arrests in the city.[11]

2018 As-Suwayda attacks
Main article: 2018 As-Suwayda attacks

On July 25 2018 the city, which had been by that time far away from the front lines, was rocked by a string of terrorist attacks. A group of at least 56 ISIS-affiliated attackers entered the city and initiated a series of gunfights and suicide bombings on its streets killing at least 246 people, the vast majority of them civilians. Many of the terrorists were reported killed during the attack, bringing the total death toll to at least 302 people. [12] Forty-two Druze ages 7 to 60 were kidnapped by ISIS and are being held captive. One has been executed bringing the total in captivity to 41. [13]

2020 Suweida protests
Main article: 2020 Suweida protests

On 7 June 2020, anti-government protests erupted in the city due to the deteriorating economic situation. Protesters demanded the resignation of President Bashar al-Assad for the first time in the city which had remained loyal to the Syrian Government throughout the civil war.[14][15]

Archaeology

Many archeological sites could be found in the old part of the city:

  • Temple of Dionysus-Dushara: eight well-decorated columns are still standing from the temple.
  • Saint Sergius Basilica: was built in the fifth century. It has Byzantine architectural elements, with an abbey surrounding it. The basilica was dedicated to Sergius.
  • The arch of the lesser church: the church itself is ruined. An arch is still standing there known locally as "The Gallows" (Arabic: المشنقة‎ al-Mashnaqah) with grape motif decorations.
  • The theater: was recently discovered, south of the Agora.

The city has many ancient reservoirs, towers and old Roman houses that are still inhabited by locals.

Many parts of the old city are still to be excavated, such as the Roman aqueduct, a conical reservoir, and a larger Roman theatre.

Climate

As Suwayda's climate is classified as warm and temperate. There is more rainfall in the winter than in the summer in As Suwayda. This location is classified as Csa by Köppen and Geiger. The average temperature in As Suwayda is 15.5 °C. About 323 mm of precipitation falls annually.

Climate data for As-Suwayda
Month Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Year
Average high °C (°F) 10.5
(50.9)		 11.7
(53.1)		 15.2
(59.4)		 20.1
(68.2)		 25.4
(77.7)		 29.2
(84.6)		 30.1
(86.2)		 30.9
(87.6)		 29.2
(84.6)		 26.0
(78.8)		 19.1
(66.4)		 12.8
(55.0)		 21.7
(71.0)
Daily mean °C (°F) 6.2
(43.2)		 7.1
(44.8)		 10.0
(50.0)		 13.9
(57.0)		 18.3
(64.9)		 21.7
(71.1)		 22.8
(73.0)		 23.5
(74.3)		 21.8
(71.2)		 18.9
(66.0)		 13.6
(56.5)		 8.3
(46.9)		 15.5
(59.9)
Average low °C (°F) 1.9
(35.4)		 2.6
(36.7)		 4.8
(40.6)		 7.8
(46.0)		 11.3
(52.3)		 14.2
(57.6)		 15.6
(60.1)		 16.1
(61.0)		 14.4
(57.9)		 11.8
(53.2)		 8.1
(46.6)		 3.9
(39.0)		 9.4
(48.9)
Average precipitation mm (inches) 69
(2.7)		 71
(2.8)		 57
(2.2)		 21
(0.8)		 8
(0.3)		 0
(0)		 0
(0)		 0
(0)		 1
(0.0)		 11
(0.4)		 27
(1.1)		 58
(2.3)		 323
(12.6)
Source: Climate-Data.org[16]
gollark: It's not trying to constantly react to the cursor position or something.
gollark: With clicks all you get is just events saying "someone clicked here", which works fine with multiple users.
gollark: With two players there are two "valid" cursor positions, which you have to distinguish between and process properly.
gollark: Not really.
gollark: It'll get mouse_move events from both, meaning that depending on how it's done you would end up with it working "correctly" but with multiple things selected, randomly flicker between them, or it might implode or something.

References
  1. http://www.cbssyr.org/new%20web%20site/General_census/census_2004/NH/TAB13-1-2004.htm%5B%5D
  2. http://newsfromsyria.com/2009/09/04/hugo-chavez-in-syria/ Many of them came from Sweida. So when their descendants returned, they brought back the Spanish language and South American culture. Sweida is little Venezuela.
  3. https://www.economist.com/node/16276817 Dubbed “Little Venezuela”, the southern Syrian town of Sweida offers arepa bread, roads named after Latin American revolutionary leaders and visits from Venezuela's president, Hugo Chávez. It has long been known for its Hispanic influence, thanks to generations of Syrians and Lebanese who left in the 19th and 20th centuries to work in South America and who have periodically returned.
  4. p. 193: And the Syrian town of Sweida is known as "Little Venezuela"
  5. http://www.gettyimages.ae/detail/news-photo/an-elderly-syrian-man-waves-venezuelas-flag-during-a-visit-news-photo/90340575#an-elderly-syrian-man-waves-venezuelas-flag-during-a-visit-by-hugo-picture-id90340575 Chavez visited Sweida, homeland of many of Venezuela's million strong Syrian community
  6. http://distintaslatitudes.net/el-levante-y-america-latina-arabe-con-acento-espanol-una-bitacora-de-latinoamerica-en-siria-libano-jordania-y-palestina Around 60% of the population of Sweida was born in Venezuelan territory (spanish article)
  7. http://www.26sep.net/news_details.php?lng=english&sid=56858 More than 200,000 people from the Sweida area carry Venezuelan citizenship and most are members of Syria's Druse sect, who immigrated to Venezuela in the past century.
  8. "Catholic Encyclopedia: Dionysias". Newadvent.org. 1909-05-01. Retrieved 2014-06-20.
  9. quoted in Le Strange, 1890, p. 540
  10. Hütteroth and Abdulfattah, 1977, p. 218.
  11. "At least 30 people killed in clashes, most of them in Damascus". Al Jazeera Blogs. Retrieved 25 October 2014.
  12. https://www.usnews.com/news/world/articles/2018-07-26/death-toll-in-devastating-is-attacks-in-syria-climbs-to-216
  13. https://ewn.co.za/2018/08/05/islamic-state-in-syria-executes-hostage-from-sweida-attack-media-monitor
  14. "Protest in southwest Syria against faltering economy, corruption". Al Jazeera. 7 June 2020. Retrieved 15 July 2020.
  15. Al-Khalidi, Suleiman (11 June 2020). "Protests hit Druze city in Syria for fourth day". Reuters. Retrieved 15 July 2020.
  16. "Climate: As Suwayda". Retrieved 2016-02-27.

Bibliography
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.