The area is situated on the ancient route between Damascus and Lebanon and has long been famous for its khans and rest-stops.
Maysalun is enshrined in Syrian history as the last stand of the short-lived Arab Kingdom of Syria, which was ruled by King Faisal.
There they faced the French Army, which drew on troops from its colonial territories, meaning Senegalese, Algerian, and Moroccan men made up the force.
After the French forces defeated the Syrian defenders, they moved on to Damascus, where they began a 26-year occupation of the country.
The Battle of Maysalun lingers in Syrian memory more broadly as symbol of, in the words of historian Eugene Rogan, "the betrayal of Britain's wartime promises, the bankruptcy of U.S. president Woodrow Wilson's vision of national self-determination, and the triumph of British and French colonial self-interest over the hopes and aspirations of millions of Arabs.