Lattakia is the largest port city in Syria. It is also the end of the overland route from Europe through Turkey.

Named Laodicia by Seleucos I Nicator after Alexander the Great’s conquest. Long before this conquest Laodicia was the Canaanite port of Ramitha part of the kingdom of Ugarit, a major port second only to Antioch in Greek and Roman times. Under the Romans this city flourished. Under the Byzantines it continued to prosper, but with the fall of the Byzantine empire it suffered many natural disasters such as earthquakes and continuous invasions by the Persians, Arabs,Seljuks and Crusaders until Ottomans established rule in the region.

In modern day Lattakia there are still some monuments worthy of note. There is a 14^th century Mamluk tower. Also there are some surviving Roman remains: a fragmentary corinthian colonnade and an impressive tetrapylon: a four-way arch that once designated the junction of two colonnade streets.