Tartus (Arabic: طرطوس) is the second largest port city in Syria after Latakia, and the capital of the Tartus Governorate. In Latin, the city was called Antaradus, and the Crusaders called it Antartus or Tortosa.
Tartus is located 220 km northwest of Damascus and less than an hour's drive south of Latakia. The border with Lebanon is 25 km away. The port of Tartus was the site of a Soviet naval base, and currently houses a Russian naval base in Syria.
Tartus has a subtropical Mediterranean climate. Summer temperatures are 30-35 °C, while winter temperatures can drop to 5-10 °C and sometimes to zero. Average annual precipitation is 1000 mm.
From the time of the Phoenicians, very few ruins have survived in
Tartus — at that time, the neighboring settlement on Arvada, the only
island in the Mediterranean belonging to Syria, was much larger and more
important. The city was held in high esteem by Emperor Constantine
because the population of Tartus worshiped the Virgin Mary. It is
believed that the first chapel in her honor was built in Tartus in the
3rd century. Two centuries later, an earthquake destroyed the chapel,
but the altar miraculously survived. The Church of Our Lady of Tartus
was built in honor of this event by the Crusaders in 1123. This church
houses the ancient altar, which is visited by pilgrims from all over the
world. After the Muslims recaptured the city, the church was used as a
mosque, and during the Ottoman period - as barracks. Under French rule,
the building was restored and now houses a museum. At one time, Tartus
was under the control of the Templars, who improved the defensive
structures in the city and on the island of Arwad. Saladin recaptured
the outskirts of the city from the Templars in 1188, and the Templars
themselves locked themselves in the city. However, Tartus remained under
the control of the Templars until 1291, when they fled to Arwad, where
they remained for another 10 years. One of the Crusader fortresses,
Markab, is located near the nearby coastal town of Baniyas and is still
in very good condition.
The historic center of Tartus consists of
more modern buildings built on and inside the walls of the Crusader
fortress, the moat of which still separates the old city from the new.
Several historical monuments remain inside the fortress.
Tartus is home to the only Russian Navy logistics center outside the
former USSR, which can service Russian warships in the Mediterranean.
The USSR Navy logistics center in Tartus has existed since 1971. It was
created to support the fleet's operations in the Mediterranean Sea -
repair ships, supply them with fuel and consumables. After the USSR's
military cooperation with Egypt was curtailed, Tartus' role in the
Soviet Navy's plans began to increase; in 1977, the 54th operational
brigade of auxiliary vessels was relocated there from Alexandria. Syria
did not agree to the creation of a USSR naval base in Tartus, but the
center's facilities and capabilities increased significantly after 1983,
and the 30th reconnaissance aviation regiment of the Black Sea Fleet Air
Force was relocated to the nearby Tifor airfield. Since 2012, Tartus has
been used as the main point for receiving military cargo supplied by
Russia to the Syrian government. Since 2015, it has also been the main
source of supplies for the Russian military group in Syria. In 2017, an
agreement was signed to expand the territory of the Russian Navy
logistics center in Tartus, to build new facilities on its territory,
and to transfer it to Russia for free use for 49 years.
The
logistics center in Tartus consists of PM-61M floating berths, a
floating workshop (changed every six months), storage facilities,
barracks, and various utility facilities. The facility is serviced by 50
Russian naval personnel. As of September 2015, the facility is serviced
by about 1,700 specialists and sailors. In October 2016, the Russian
Ministry of Defense decided to create a permanent naval base in Tartus,
Syria. The relevant documents were prepared in October 2016. On December
29, 2017, Russian President Vladimir Putin signed the Federal Law "On
Ratification of the Agreement between the Russian Federation and the
Syrian Arab Republic on Expanding the Territory of the Logistics Support
Point of the Russian Navy in the Port of Tartus and Calls by Russian
Warships into the Territorial Sea, Internal Waters and Ports of the
Syrian Arab Republic."
On December 13-14, 2018, a regular meeting
of the intergovernmental commission was held within the framework of
cooperation between Russia and Syria in the military and
military-technical fields. During the meeting, 30 projects were included
in the roadmap of the agreement on industrial and trade cooperation
between the two countries. Among them is the construction of an airport
in Tartus. In April 2019, Deputy Prime Minister Yuri Borisov announced
that the Tartus seaport would be leased by Russia for 49 years for
transport and economic use.
There is a cement plant in Tartus with a capacity of 6.5 thousand
tons of cement per day.
There is also a recording and circulation
studio King Recording in this city, which was previously located in
Aleppo and was forced to move from there because of the war.