What is "khawabi"

Khawabi , also spelled Qala'at al-Khawabi is a village and medieval citadel in northwestern Syria, administratively part of the Tartus Governorate, located 20 kilometers northeast of Tartus and 12 kilometers east of al-Sawda. Khawabi is situated in a hilly area, surrounded by olive groves, in the Coastal Mountain Range. Nearby localities include al-Sawda and to the west, al-Annazah to the northwest, al-Qamsiyah to the north, Brummanet Raad to the northeast, al-Shaykh Badr to the east, Khirbet al-Faras to the south and Bimalkah to the southwest.

According to the Syria Central Bureau of Statistics, Khawabi had a population of 1,039 in the 2004 census. Its inhabitants are predominantly Sunni Muslims. The village formerly had a significant Ismaili population until the early 20th-century, and during the medieval period, its citadel (Qala'at Khawabi) served as a center of the Ismaili community when they were known as the Assassins. The citadel itself has been inhabited since at least the 12th-century.