Qastun قسطون Kastun | |
|---|---|
Town | |
  Qastun Location in Syria | |
| Coordinates:35°41′5″N36°23′28″E / 35.68472°N 36.39111°E /35.68472; 36.39111 | |
| Country |  Syria |
| Governorate | Hama |
| District | Al-Suqaylabiyah |
| Subdistrict | Al-Ziyarah |
| Occupation |  Syrian Salvation Government (Tahrir al-Sham) |
| Population (2004) | |
• Total | 6,187 |
| Time zone | UTC+2 (EET) |
| • Summer (DST) | UTC+3 (EEST) |
Qastun (Arabic:قسطون), also spelledKastun orKustun, is a village in northernSyria, administratively part of theHama Governorate, located northwest ofHama and 35 kilometers southwest ofIdlib.[1] It is situated in theGhab plain, on the eastern bank of theOrontes River. Nearby localities includeal-Ziyarah to the west,Qarqur to the northwest,Farikah to the north,Maaratah to the northeast,al-Muzarah to the southeast andal-Ankawi to the south. According to theSyria Central Bureau of Statistics, Qastun had a population of 6,187 in the 2004 census, making it the largest locality in theal-Ziyarah sub-district (nahiyah).[2]
Qastun is identified as the ancientAramean town of Qattun or "Qatan" of theIron Age. It is listed in anAssyrian text fromKultepe. The site of the ancient town is about 16 hectares and is spread between the two parts of Qastun i.e. Qastun al-Gharbi and Qastun al-Sharqi. The latter sits on an elevation 25 meters above the surrounding territory alongside the Qastun River.[3]
The Syrian geographerYaqut al-Hamawi visited Qastun duringAyyubid rule in 1225, noting that it was "a fortress that was in the district ofAr Ruj in the Halab (Aleppo) Province."[4] During the conflict between theMamluks (successors to the Ayyubids) and aMongol-Armenian alliance, an elite Mongol force of some 1,500 soldiers raided Qastun in 1271, massacring and plundering itsTurkmen inhabitants.[5] In the Spring of 1298, a Mamluk army led byal-Muzaffar III Mahmud, the Ayyubid vassal ofHama, launched a campaign to conquer Armenian-heldCilicia, but only reached Qastun, before being recalled toAleppo.[6]
When the nearbyZeyzoun Dam collapsed in June 2002, floods destroyed and damaged hundreds of houses in Qastun and the nearby villages of Qarqur, al-Ziyarah and Zeizoun.[7]
According to theSyrian Observatory for Human Rights, a man was shot dead at a security checkpoint in Qastun on 4 September 2012, during the ongoingSyrian civil war.[8] According to an opposition activist from Hama, 25 children were killed by shooting or stabbing in Qastun and nearby al-Aqbayr on 6 June 2012 by pro-government forces.[9]
