the Chamidie (Al Hamidiyah |) is a town in the coastal line of Syria about 3 km from the border of Lebanon. The town was founded in a very short time by direct orders from the Turkish Sultan Abdul Hamid circa 1897, as a refuge for Muslim Cretans who escaped ethnic cleansing in Crete, after the withdrawal of Turkish troops from the island. The city is home to about 5.000 people, the majority still speaks Cretan Greek (with special Cretan accent) in their daily lives.