Country Syria District Afrin District de facto Rojava | Governorate Aleppo Governorate Subdistrict Jindires Time zone EET (UTC+2) | |
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Jindires (Arabic: جنديرس, Kurdish: Cindarisa, also spelled, Jandires, Jendires, Jendeires, or Jandarus) is a town in northern Syria in the Afrin District of the Aleppo Governorate. It is located on the Afrin River, 68.4 kilometres (42.5 mi) northwest by road from Aleppo and 20.9 kilometres (13.0 mi) southwest of Afrin. Nearby localities include Deir Ballut and Bayadah to the southwest, Zahra to the northwest, Kafr Safra to the north, Afrin to the northeast and Burj Abdullah to the east. According to the Syria Central Bureau of Statistics (CBS), Jandairis had a population of 13,661 in the 2004 census. As a preliminary result of the ongoing Syrian Civil War, Jandairis today is situated in Afrin Canton within the autonomous Federation of Northern Syria – Rojava framework.
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History
Jindiris is the site of the ancient town of Gindarus or Gindaros (Ancient Greek: Γίνδαρος), an acropolis of Cyrrhestica during the Hellenistic period. The Battle of Mount Gindarus took place near the town in 38 BC. The Parthians under Pacorus I suffered a massive defeat to the Roman armies of Ventidius and Pacorus himself was killed in battle. Under the Romans the city belonged to Antioch. Emperor Theodosius the Great, fortified the city during his reign. Traces of the fortified wall still remain on the south and west side of the tell, while the modern village is located at the base.
In the 14th-century, during Mamluk rule, Jindires was visited by Syrian geographer al-Dimashqi who described it as "a town near Tizin, and in the territory of Jumah. It is a place full of habitations. There are thermal springs here, but it is unknown where the waters rise, or whither they flow."
The 19th-century British writer, William Harrison Ainsworth, visited the village and described it in his magazine as "containing about fifty cottages, and characterized by its artificial mound, or tel, upon which but few traces are now to be met of the castle or citadel (Acropolis in Greek; Arx in Latin) of Cyrrhestica, and described by Strabo as 'a fit receptacle for thieves.'"
Ecclesiastical history
The first and only known bishop of Gindarus was Peter, who attended the Council of Nicaea in 325 and that of Antioch in 341. At the time of Justinian, Gindarus had only a periodeutes and not a bishop. The relics of St. Marinus were kept here but were later transferred to Antioch. The bishopric is included in the Catholic Church's list of titular sees.
Modern era
By the summer of 2012, during the ongoing Syrian uprising, Jandairis fell into the hands of the Democratic Union Party (PYD) and its armed wing the Popular Protection Units (YPG).