Kafr Latah
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Kafr Latah كفرلاته |
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|---|---|
| Village | |
 Kafr Latah
|
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| Coordinates: 35°47′41″N 36°37′39″E / 35.79472°N 36.62750°E | |
| Country |
 Syria
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| Governorate | Idlib |
| District | Ariha |
| Subdistrict | Ariha |
| Population (2004) | |
| • Total | 4,231 |
| Time zone | EET (UTC+2) |
| • Summer (DST) | +3 (UTC) |
Kafr Latah (Arabic: كفرلاته, also spelled Kafar Latha or Kfarlatha) is a village in northern Syria, administratively part of the Idlib Governorate, located south of Idlib. It is situated on the southern edge of a narrow valley. Nearby localities include Ariha immediately to the northwest, Maar Bilit to the northeast, Sarjah and Shinan to the south, al-Rami to the southwest and Urum al-Jawz to the west. According to the Syria Central Bureau of Statistics, Kafr Latah had a population of 4,231 in the 2004 census. The residents mostly work in agriculture built their houses in the village out of concrete. Prior to the ongoing Syrian civil war, Kafr Latah was experiencing a measure of prosperity.
In 1110, the Crusader prince Tancred of Galilee conquered Kafr Latah from the Assassins (also known as Ismailis.) In the 1220s, during Ayyubid rule, Syrian geographer Yaqut al-Hamawi described Kafr Latah as "a town with a Friday mosque on the slopes of Jabal Amilah, in the Halab [Aleppo] District and a day's distance from this last city. It has gardens and running water." He also noted that its inhabitants were Ismailis.
In the early 19th century, Kafr Latah was visited by Swiss traveler Johann Ludwig Burckhardt. He noted that the village consisted of 40-50 well-built houses of square-shaped rocks that had been collected from older ruins located on the site. The village belonged to the prominent Aleppo-based family of Ibn Ziaf. The rocky area immediately around Kafr Latah contained remains that "deserved notice, on account of the vast quantity of stone coffins and sepulchers." The remaining cultivable land was used by residents to plant barley, corn and fruit trees.
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