Şāfītā

The Crusader-built fortress of Chastel Blanc in Safita enabled the city to historically dominate the surrounding region. Safita served as the center of a large rural district throughout Ottoman rule. Its influence receded with the administrative rise and economic development of the nearby port town of Tartus and the dimunition of its jurisdiction beginning under French Mandatory rule and continuing post-Syrian independence. Safita shares close economic ties with Tartus, as well as having business networks extending across Syria's major cities and Lebanon. It remains an economic hub for the surrounding countryside.