Syrian Coastal Mountain Range

The Syrian Coastal Mountain Range runs north to south parallel to the Mediterranean coast of Syria, between the coastal plain and the Orontes valley, rising to about 1,500 m. Known in the Middle Ages as the Jabal Bahra and later as the Jabal al-Nusayriyah or Jabal Ansariyah, it sheltered religious minorities: the Nizari Ismailis held castles there from the 12th century, and it is the historic heartland of the Alawites.