Baniyas is a city of northwestern Syria that is located 55 km to the south of Latakia. In Phoenician times, it was an important seaport. It was known to the Greeks as Balemia. Latakia (Arabic: اللاذقية Al-Ladhiqiyah) is the principal port city of Syria. ... Phoenicia was an ancient civilization in the north of ancient Canaan, with its heartland along the coastal plain of what is now Lebanon and Syria. ...

It was famous for its orchards and its export of wood. Today it is better known for its oil refinery. It still contains citrus fruit orchards surrounded by green hills. On one of the hills is the imposing al-Marqab Citadel, a huge fortress of black basalt stone.