Island of Arwad, Qal'at Arwad, the Ayyubid fortress & environs
Syria's only inhabited island: a Phoenician city-state with a medieval castle, an Ayyubid fortress and a living maritime culture — where heritage and daily life have shared the same roots for 5,000 years.
- Direction
- Directorate-General of Antiquities and Museums (DGAM) & IIMAS
- Location
- Off the coast of Tartous, Syria
- History
- Continuously inhabited for some 5,000 years
- Plan
- Five years — from first visible repairs to a living museum
An island that remembers everything
Known in antiquity as Arados, Arwad was one of the principal Phoenician city-states: a maritime power whose stone quays and harbor works still break the surface of the sea. Hellenistic, Roman, medieval and Ottoman layers crowd one another in its lanes — and its boatyards still build wooden boats by hand, as they have for centuries.
The castle: a museum for the island's past
Qal'at Arwad, the island's medieval castle, once served as its museum and visitor center. Years of enforced neglect have left it damaged but standing. Working with the DGAM, our plan begins with immediate, visible improvements — cleaning, repairing the entrance and broken windows — and builds toward its return as a museum dedicated to the island's past: the cultural heart of Arwad.
The Ayyubid fortress: a home for maritime research
The island's second great monument, the Ayyubid fortress (burj), is destined for a new life as a maritime research center — a place where the island's deep seafaring past meets its living present. Here the crafts that still thrive on Arwad — boat building, net making, fishing — will be studied, documented and celebrated as intangible heritage in their own right.
Heritage you can sail
Arwad's heritage is not only in its stones. Boatbuilding, fishing, and the seasonal rituals of a maritime community are living links to its deepest past. The project treats these traditions as monuments in their own right — to be documented, celebrated and passed on.
Watch: the island from the fortress
Gallery
