Al-Kiswah (Arabic: الكسوة Al Kiswah also spelled Kissoué/Kiswe) is a city in the Rif Dimashq Governorate, Syria. It is located approximately 13 kilometres (8 miles) south of Damascus. It was the location of the 1303 Battle of Marj al-Saffar, and the childhood home of Adnan Awad.
Al-Kiswah
الكسوة
Kissoué
Kiswe | |
|---|---|
Al-Kiswe town center
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  Al-Kiswah Location in Syria | |
| Coordinates: 33°21′N 36°14′E / 33.350°N 36.233°E / 33.350; 36.233 | |
| Country |  Syria |
| Governorate | Rif Dimashq |
| District | Markaz Rif Dimashq |
| Subdistrict | al-Kiswah |
| Elevation | 720 m (2,360 ft) |
| Population
(2004 census)
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| • Total | 43,456 |
Administratively, Al-Kiswah belongs to Markaz Rif Dimashq district. It is one of the largest towns of the district by terms of population.
The name "al-Kiswah" means “the garment”.[1] According to a tradition related by Yaqut al-Hamawi, this is because the king of Rum sent some messengers to demand tribute from a figure named King Ghassan; he had the messengers killed and then, at the site of al-Kiswah, he had their garments divided up.[1]
Yaqut and Ibn Battuta both described al-Kiswah as the first stage on the hajj route out of Damascus.[1] Abu'l-Fida similarly described al-Kiswah as a stopping place on the road south of Damascus and added that between the two places, the road went through a “beautiful pass” called the 'Aqabah ash-Shuhūrah.[1] He also wrote that it lay on a stream called the Nahr al-A'waj which flowed down from the “mountain of snow”, i.e. Mount Hermon.[1]
In 1838, Eli Smith noted it as a predominantly Sunni Muslim village.[2]
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