The city overlooks the Ghab Valley and is a commercial center connecting the communities of the Syrian Coastal Mountain Range with the country's interior plains.

Along the latter two districts' southern and southwestern edge is al-Souq ('the Market'), where residents of the surrounding communities sell their dairy and produce and buy goods.

The Hauranis were joined by several Christian families originally from the Coastal Mountain Range,[6] including from the villages of Ayn al-Kurum, Maradash, Anab, Dabbash and Arnaba.

[8] In 1879, the German orientalist Eduard Sachau visited al-Suqaylabiyah during a tour of the Hama region and noted it was a Christian village crowning a flat, round hilltop.

[9] The Swiss historian Max van Berchem was hosted by its sheikh in 1885 and he described al-Suqaylabiyah as a large Orthodox Christian village perched on a mound with a wealthy and prosperous appearance.

The sheikh's house was described as being surrounded by huts which formed the outbuildings of his residence; the complex was enclosed by a high wall of beaten earth with a crenellated top.

[11] In 1921, during the north Syrian revolts against French rule (which began soon after the Ottomans were driven from Syria in 1918), the villagers of al-Suqaylabiyah resisted incursions and raids by local bands of rebels.

Its inhabitants were Orthodox Christians belonging to the Church of Antioch and resembled their coastal mountaineer neighbors in their Arabic dialect, clothing and beauty.

Beginning around 1950 and accelerating after 1960, al-Suqaylabiyah underwent significant urban expansion, largely owing to the major drainage and land reclamation project in the Ghab Valley.

[14] A significant component of the population is engaged in agricultural production and the major crops are wheat, cotton, sugar beets, vegetables and legumes.

Before the civil war at least, al-Suqaylabiyah drew domestic and other Arab tourists attracted to its proximity to the Roman–Byzantine ruins of Apamea, the medieval castles of Qalaat al-Madiq and Abu Qubays, and the Nahr al-Bared springs.

[3] In July 2020, the Syrian government announced a plan to build a replica of the Hagia Sophia in al-Suqaylabiyah with Russian assistance as a reaction to its transformation into a mosque by Turkish authorities.