“The Crusader castles were exactly the lure that Syria hooked me on from the very beginning. I remembered how, back in school, I read the adventures of the brave King Richard the Lionheart and other noble knights who went on long-term crusades and built impregnable citadels far from home. And then it suddenly became clear that all this was not a fairy tale! Despite the wars and destruction, the gloomy citadels of the soldiers of the cross have been preserved and still stand windswept on the rocky hills of distant Syria...
BANIYAS, SYRIA: Crusader castles - Markab. Photo: Dmitry Vozdvizhensky.
I couldn’t resist going on a trip to see the castles of the Crusaders. But I didn’t have time for all the locks. Therefore, among the many, I chose three that seemed the most attractive to me. Of course, Krak des Chevaliers, it was he who, before the current civil war in Syria, was recognized by everyone as the best preserved. In addition, there is the black and gray Markab almost on the very coast of the Mediterranean Sea and the grandiose castle of Salahaddin, to which I went first ... "
Center the map
Movement
By bike
While passing through
Visiting the Site for curious travelers is Dmitry Vozdvizhensky, my colleague, journalist, photographer, experienced traveler. With this article we will continue the series of materials under the general title “Syria before the war”, we will talk about what this country was like just recently, and about what kind of Syria we have irretrievably lost.
Ali Bita is not a hereditary aristocrat and not the heir of a millionaire. But from his birth he lived in a huge medieval castle - Salahaddin Castle. Before the war, it was a place of pilgrimage for tourists. And once upon a time these were simply useless ruins. So the ancestors of Ali Bit - simple Bedouins - settled here.
At the beginning of the 20th century it was the territory of Turkey. The Turks did not pay any attention to the castle, which was called Son - there were enough other, more pressing concerns.
LATAKIA, SYRIA: Crusader castles - Son, Salahaddin castle. Photo: Dmitry Vozdvizhensky. Therefore, the local population enjoyed using the buildings that were built by the brave crusaders more than eight hundred years ago. Now the castle is known throughout the world as one of the masterpieces of serf architecture. The Bedouins, of course, had long been resettled to new places, and Ali Bit, who spent his entire childhood here, decided to stay among his native ruins forever and worked as a caretaker.
Ali Bita, castle keeper: “My family lived here for a long time, and I was born and raised here. I got so used to these stones that I decided to stay among them. I’ve been working as a caretaker for several decades now and I know every corner here.”
LATAKIA, SYRIA: Crusader castles - Son, Salahaddin castle. Fortress moat. Photo: Dmitry Vozdvizhensky. Son Castle turned into Salahaddin Castle in 1957, the Syrian authorities named it in honor of the great Arab conqueror who managed to clear the Middle East of European knights. The capture of this impregnable fortress is considered one of the key moments of that distant military campaign. The assault lasted only a few days.
This sounds incredible. The powerful walls of the castle were surrounded by a huge moat. In the monolithic mountain, the crusaders dug a ditch as much as 30 meters deep. This is the height of a ten-story building. Moreover, they dug the ditch, naturally, without explosives or excavators, only with picks and shovels. It took a hundred years, but these are already details. Time itself passed much more slowly back then.
LATAKIA, SYRIA: Crusader castles - the citadel of the castle of Son, the castle of Salahaddin. Photo: Dmitry Vozdvizhensky. On top of the moat was crowned a powerful donjon - a free-standing and most invulnerable tower. In the castle of Son, the knights felt absolutely safe. Only a complete madman could attack the fortress head-on. But Salahaddin did not do this. He surrounded the castle, and then without much difficulty captured the lower courtyard, making a hole in the walls with catapults. The Crusaders believed that his loss would not complicate the defense. But they miscalculated. As a result, Salahaddin allowed them to leave by paying a ransom: 10 dinars for men, 5 for women and 2 dinars for children.
LATAKIA, SYRIA: Crusader castles - Son, Salahaddin castle. Photo: Dmitry Vozdvizhensky. Ali Bita hospitably gave us tea. He said that he felt like a real master, just like Robert de Son, who built these phantasmagoric fortifications, or Salahaddin, who took them almost without a fight.
Ali was sure that it was its cyclopean size that destroyed the castle. It was the largest of all the Crusader castles: the area was more than five hectares. The knights could not strengthen it entirely as reliably as from the side of the donjon. And in order to defend such long walls, a lot of soldiers were needed. But the crusaders didn’t have them.
Salahaddin perfectly understood this serf mathematics and, most likely, that is why he did not even try to storm the smallest of the knight’s castles - Krak des Chevaliers...
Dream, Salahaddin Castle
Dream, Salahaddin Castle
Dream, Salahaddin Castle
Dream, Salahaddin Castle
The famous adventurer Lawrence of Arabia called it the most delightful of all the castles in the world. Traveling to Syria and not visiting here is the same as visiting Moscow and not looking at the Kremlin.
A bad tourist is one who does not dream of chipping a pebble from an ancient building: a castle, a pyramid or a temple. Doing this is strictly prohibited, as it is a historical monument after all. But there is a special type of travelers to whom this rule does not apply. Such tourists are called archaeologists and they do their job solely for the sake of science. The people who were enthusiastically dismantling the roof of the medieval donjon turned out to be Syrian and German archaeologists. Their enthusiasm is understandable: the last serious studies of the castle were carried out under the French, in the mid-thirties. And since then, scientists have accumulated many questions about this stronghold.
HOMS, SYRIA: Crusader castles - Krak des Chevaliers. Photo: Dmitry Vozdvizhensky. It is then that serious scientific articles and solid monographs appear, but for now archaeologists are like curious children looking for fabulous pirate treasures.
Thoralf Burkert - archaeologist: “Look how interesting it is. Here is the cement that the French left here. It most likely let water through, and therefore all the stones under it are damp. This is sandstone, the crusaders usually built from it, but what kind of stones they are and where they came from is difficult to say. Maybe it was from the French, maybe the Turks worked, but it’s unlikely that this has remained here since the Middle Ages.”
HOMS, SYRIA: Crusader castles - Krak des Chevaliers. Photo: Dmitry Vozdvizhensky. The French carried out a serious restoration here in the thirties. They moved an entire Alawite village from here. They laid special rails to clear the rubble. The work was not in vain. There's a lot to see here. Krak des Chevaliers stands on the top of a mountain range, at an altitude of six hundred and fifty meters above sea level. There are no mountains around from which the citadel could be fired upon, nor dense thickets in which the enemy could hide. Krak des Chevaliers was built in a very important place - the passage between the Mediterranean coast and the interior of the Euphrates and Bekaa Valley. A small garrison of this fortress could stop an entire army.
HOMS, SYRIA: Crusader castles - Krak des Chevaliers. Photo: Dmitry Vozdvizhensky. Krak des Chevaliers acquired its modern appearance in the second half of the twelfth century. At that time, the fortress passed into the hands of the Knights Hospitaller. It was they who built the second row of defensive structures, which made it possible to withstand numerous attacks by Arab warriors. Krak des Chevaliers is almost three times smaller than Salahaddin Castle. The Franks abandoned the construction of the lower courtyard, and therefore the castle was easier to defend.
HOMS, SYRIA: Crusader castles - Krak des Chevaliers. Photo: Dmitry Vozdvizhensky. Everyone who has heard stories about this amazing castle imagines a mighty Christian stronghold. But in appearance, this castle of knights is not at all as intimidating as many other not so famous fortresses. It is very compact, and from a distance it looks simply miniature. But its small size made this bastion impregnable. In the best military campaigns, the garrison was increased to four thousand people, which made it possible to create an incredibly dense defense and repel any attack.
Krak de Chevalier was taken already at the end of the 13th century, when the position of the Crusaders in the Middle East was greatly weakened. The troops of Sultan Baybars captured it with heavy losses after a month and a half siege. Iyas Alkhaty, a member of the Syrian-German archaeological expedition, believed that Krak des Chevaliers was the best knight's castle in the entire Middle East.
Iyas Alkhaty – archaeologist: “This is a unique castle. Everything here is special - the architecture, the land, the atmosphere. My favorite place in Syria is, of course, Palmyra, but Krak des Chevaliers is also beyond competition. It is impossible to find a second castle like this anywhere in the world.”
HOMS, SYRIA: Crusader castles - Krak des Chevaliers. Photo: Dmitry Vozdvizhensky. Iyas was not alone in his love for medieval castles. Many Syrians are proud of these not at all Syrian buildings. In total, more than a dozen excellent fortresses from the times of the Crusades have survived in Syria. Almost the entire coast is dotted with them. Walking through the former citadels of European knights before the Civil War was a popular and useful pastime. Entire families with children, groups of students and young couples came to the places once favored by the Franks. Crusader castles offer not only majestic architecture, but also majestic landscapes. Fortresses were usually built on the tops of mountains and hills, and therefore the landscapes from the dilapidated walls are truly stunning.
HOMS, SYRIA: Crusader castles - Krak des Chevaliers. Photo: Dmitry Vozdvizhensky. At the top of the fortress tower you begin to feel the history. You are amazed at the tenacity with which it was possible to build and defend, capture and destroy such fantastic structures. After spending at least half a day in a real medieval fortress in Syria, you begin to look at the entire Middle East in a completely different way. A visit to antique shops in Aleppo or Damascus then turns into an exciting search for lost treasures...
Most of them are made in the next block. But the tourists, impressed by the castles, were happy to be deceived and gladly bought these relics. After all, Salahaddin is the same Syrian brand for Syria as Napoleon is for France.
HOMS, SYRIA: Crusader castles - Krak des Chevaliers. Photo: Dmitry Vozdvizhensky. 
HOMS, SYRIA: Crusader castles - Krak des Chevaliers. Photo: Dmitry Vozdvizhensky. This man knew how to fight, he broke the back of the knightly orders and expelled the Europeans from the Middle East. It’s a paradox, but his tomb in Damascus was restored to its proper form solely because of the visit to the city of the European monarch, the German Emperor Wilhelm II. Salahaddin's tomb was almost lost during the frantic construction in Damascus at the end of the nineteenth century.
November 15th, 2013
"The most beautiful castle in the world,
undoubtedly the most picturesque
of all the ones I ever saw,
just a real miracle."
T. E. Lawrence (Lawrence of Arabia), 1909
Krak des Chevaliers (Krak des Chevaliers or Сrac des Chevaliers- “fortress of knights” in a mixture of French and Arabic). The castle rises at an altitude of approximately 500 m above the El Bukeya valley (El-Bukeia) in Syria and occupies a strategic position along the only route from Antioch to Beirut and the Mediterranean Sea. To the east is Homs, to the west is Antioch, to the north is Tripoli and, finally, to the south is Beirut. The castle is one of the most beautiful and best preserved crusader castles.
We find the first mention of Krak des Chevaliers in Muslim chronicles, where it is called “Fortress of the Kurds” (Hisn al-Akr ad). WITH 1031 By order of the Emir of Aleppo, a Kurdish garrison was located in it. During the First Crusade in 1099 the fortress was captured by Raymond of Saint-Gilles (French: Raymond de Saint-Gilles ) , but was abandoned when the crusaders continued their march towards Jerusalem. Everyone was so obsessed with the idea of taking possession of the Holy City that the castle eventually remained “orphaned.”
In the Middle Ages, Europeans carried out the well-known Crusades to Palestine beyond the Holy Sepulcher, spreading their culture along the way, completely alien to Muslims, with fire and sword. The 11th-13th centuries were marked by a mass of bloody battles between Christians and Arab peoples. And one of the main monuments about those harsh times was Crusader fortress Krak des Chevaliers, located in modern Syria, east of the Lebanese city of Tripoli on the top of a cliff more than 650 meters high.
Before the arrival of Europeans, the castle was quite small, and was called the “Castle of the Kurds.” It was occupied by the Kurdish garrison of the emir of Aleppo, protecting the lands from invasion. In 1099, Raymond IV, Count of Toulouse captured the fortress with great difficulty during the First Crusade - the besiegers were driven by the thought of treasures hidden behind the walls. The French could not remain in the fort for long - they needed to continue their march to Jerusalem. Therefore, the crusaders soon left the “Castle of the Kurds.”
IN 1102 Raymond regained the fortress, but only Tancred (French Tancrede) was able to take complete control of the fortress and leave a Frankish garrison in it under the flag of the County of Tripoli in 1110
IN 1142 Raymond II, Count of Tripoli (French: Raymond II)
(French: Chastel Rouge) and Castel Blanc (French: Chastel Blanc). In second half of the 12th century(Nur ad-Din )
IN 1157 (French: Raymond du Puy) (French Boheme).
IN 1163 1167 IN 1170
The Knights of Malta, or Hospitallers, took on the difficult burden of protecting the Holy Land and helping thousands of pilgrims. But Muslims, not without reason, considered this land theirs, and therefore the 12th and 13th centuries in that region were abundantly watered with the blood of both sides. It became clear that the Crusader fortress was too weak to withstand the onslaught of the attackers, and in the 1140s the Hospitallers began large-scale construction, increasing the fortress several times. At the end of a colossal dedication that lasted decades, the fortress became the largest crusader stronghold in the Holy Land. It was named Krak de Chevalier (Kerak in Arabic means “fortress”, Chevalier in French means “knight”).
IN 1142 Raymond II, Count of Tripoli (French: Raymond II) transferred the fortress to the Order of Hospitallers named after St. John of Jerusalem. Thanks to this acquisition, the Hospitallers (also called Johannites) were able to expand their influence all the way to Lake Homs in the east.
The Johannites rebuilt the castle, making it the largest fortress in the Holy Land, adding an outer wall 30 m thick and seven watchtowers with a wall thickness of 8–10 m. One of these towers was occupied by the Grand Master of the Hospitallers.
Work to strengthen the castle gave impetus to the construction of such castles as Castel Rouge (French: Chastel Rouge) and Castel Blanc (French: Chastel Blanc). In second half of the 12th century, after the fall of the Seljuks, following the victory of Zengi over the Crusaders (loss of Edessa), the unsuccessful siege of Damascus during the Second Crusade and the rise to power of Nureddin (Nur ad-Din ) The Muslims joined forces and increased pressure on the Crusaders - and therefore on the Krak des Chevaliers.
IN 1157 a strong earthquake seriously damaged the castle, and Raymond du Puy (French: Raymond du Puy), Grand Master of the Hospitallers, decides to rebuild the castle and turns to the King of Bohemia for financial help (French Boheme).
IN 1163 Nureddin attacks the castle, but his army is completely defeated at the foot of the fortress by an unexpected attack by the Frankish cavalry. After the victory, the Hospitallers become their own independent force on the Tripoli border. Nureddin's repeated unsuccessful attack on the fortress took place on 1167 IN 1170 Another earthquake shakes Krak des Chevaliers and the fortress has to be rebuilt again.
Even Saladin failed to take Krak des Chevaliers. During the siege in 1188 near the walls of the fortress, the Arabs managed to capture the castellan, the keeper of the keys to the castle doors. Saladin's warriors brought him to the walls of the fortress and demanded that he order the garrison to open the gates. The castellan first gave the order in Arabic to surrender the fortress, but then, in French, he ordered to fight to the last man. By the way, a similar incident occurred during the siege of Beaufort Castle nearby.
After Saladin's death in 1193 The Muslim union collapsed, which gave the defenders of the castle a short respite. The “golden age” of the fortress began. At that time, Krak des Chevaliers could accommodate 50–60 Hospitallers and up to 2,000 ordinary soldiers with provisions for 5 years of autonomous life. It occupied an area of about 2.5 hectares and was protected by two concentric walls, independent of each other.
The modest Kurdish Castle has grown into a real fortified complex, surrounded by a wall ranging from an impressive three to a monstrous thirty meters thick of solid masonry. The loopholes in this wall looked like long corridors. Several watchtowers were erected, one of which was occupied by the Grand Master of the Order of the Knights of Malta. The Krak des Chevaliers castle included courtyards, a reservoir with a supply of water, numerous storage facilities hidden inside the rock, including a grandiose 120-meter hall for storing looted wealth. The Hospitallers did everything so that the castle could withstand long sieges and settled in it for centuries. As a result, it became famous as the most impregnable fortress in the world.
Many times Muslims came under its walls to drive out foreigners. For many years they tried to take the Krak des Chevaliers castle by storm. Thousands of people died in the process. To no avail: the castle could not be successfully stormed, it could not be destroyed. Truly, it was a stronghold beyond any effort. Thanks to the castle, in 1188 the Hospitallers repelled the attack of Saladin himself, the Muslim warrior, liberator of Jerusalem, and commander who was considered invincible. But even the legendary Saladin could not do anything about Krak des Chevaliers, leaving its walls with nothing.
Muslim forces inflicted a long series of heavy defeats on the Crusaders in the region. Throughout the 13th century, Christians tried again and again to fight their way to Jerusalem, but this time the Muslim defenders stood firm. The Crusades ended ingloriously, bringing a huge amount of suffering to entire nations. But the castle of Krak des Chevaliers with its garrison of two thousand soldiers still stood, and the Hospitallers still held it securely, completely dominating the surrounding territory. They couldn’t take him by storm for 130 years! All the Christian castles in the region fell, and only this stronghold remained impregnable. Muslims fell into despair, losing hope that they would ever be able to expel Christians from these lands.
The Knights of Malta held the Crusader fortress until the general situation began to decisively contribute to the expulsion of Christians from the Holy Land. A strong ruler, Sultan Baybars, who united Egypt and Syria in the mid-13th century, flooded the area with his troops, cut off supplies, and Muslim settlements stopped paying tribute to Krak des Chevaliers. This was the beginning of the end. But the knights were going to fight to the last man, they refused to lay down their arms. Mamluk and Ibn Shaddad came to the aid of Baybars, and the castle, surrounded by hordes of enemies, took the last battle in 1271.
The siege engines and mines did their job - the besiegers, through terrible losses, were able to break through the outer walls. The garrison fought stubbornly: the knights retreated to the towers and flatly refused to surrender. The capture of the courtyard meant new casualties, and Baybars ordered the battle to stop. He resorted to a trick: the surviving defenders of the castle, who had taken refuge in the towers, were sent a forged letter from the Master of the Maltese from Tripoli, in which he allegedly gave permission to surrender the fortress. Only then, 10 days later, did the remnants of the knightly army leave their shelters and surrender to the mercy of the victors. Thus the impregnable castle of Krak des Chevaliers fell.
Baybars showed generosity - he did not execute those who surrendered, but... let them go! They set off for France, enduring countless dangers along the way, but some still managed to reach their homeland unharmed. The Muslims made the castle their fortress, restored the destroyed towers, and added new ones. Today the castle is a mixture of Christian and Muslim buildings.
The Crusader fortress is considered the most important example of medieval architecture and is included in the UNESCO World Heritage List. It is not easy to get to it, but tourists continue to visit this amazing place, covered with the breath of centuries.
During Mamluk rule, the southern wall was strengthened and several buildings were added, including a Turkish bath and an aqueduct. The invasion of the Mongols led by Tamerlane (1400 - 1401) and the invasion of the Ottoman Empire in 1516 bypassed the fortress. Subsequently, the castle served as the residence of the governor, and in 1920 the fortress came under the control of the French Mandate
The Crac des Chevaliers is part of the UNESCO World Heritage Site Crac des Chevaliers and Qal'at Salah El-Din.
Castle architecture
- Lines of defense. The fortification system consisted of two concentric circles of thick walls. The defense of the outer walls was carried out from the territory of the lower courtyard, and the defenders of the internal fortifications fought off the enemy from the towers and from the upper courtyard. The castle was surrounded by a moat with water, and supplies of drinking water in case of a siege were stored in special containers in the lower courtyard. In 1271, the troops of the Egyptian Sultan Baybars managed to break through the outer fortification and penetrate into the lower courtyard, but they were unable to go further. The siege lasted many months before the defenders of the fortress surrendered.
- Support towers. The massive walls were reinforced with support towers, which served as a reliable shelter for the sentinels.
- External wall. A beveled thickening at the base of the wall protected it from being undermined or undermined.
- Loopholes. The narrow slits of the loopholes, almost invulnerable to shells, usually widened inward, forming a niche in the wall. The archers watched the enemy from there and, taking aim, fired.
- Internal communication. To communicate between fortifications located at a considerable distance from each other, the crusaders used pigeon mail, which they borrowed from the Arabs.
- Aqueduct. Water entered the castle through an aqueduct. In case of a siege, the castle had reserves of water, stored in closed containers in the dungeons.
- Square tower. During the siege of 1271, the square tower was badly damaged and was rebuilt 14 years later. However, round towers were considered more reliable - it was more convenient to conduct all-round defense from them.
- Vaulted galleries. A vaulted gallery stretches along the walls of the refectory - in it you can hide from the scorching sun. In the courtyard, the most beautiful and comfortable rooms of the castle are located - the chambers of the knights. The courtyard serves as a refuge for the inhabitants of the castle in the event of an attack by mercenaries guarding the outer wall of the fortress.
- Outbuildings. A windmill was installed on the tower - reserves of flour helped withstand long sieges. In the dungeons of the upper courtyard there were spacious storerooms.
- Upper tier. The defense of the upper tier of the fortifications was carried out from high towers and from the courtyard, where the dormitory (bedrooms), refectory, warehouses, chapel, as well as the chambers of the knights were located.
- Additional insurance. The walls of the upper tier were reinforced with a powerful thickening in the form of a slope, the width of which at the base reached 24.3 meters and was almost equal to the height of the wall. This massive structure, built in the 13th century, in addition to its defensive purpose, served as a giant buttress, withstanding even earthquakes.
- Defense tricks. From the eastern gate tower, ramps leading to the donjon replaced flights of stairs. The winding, narrow passage made it difficult to fire battering guns. Even the sudden change of light and shadow was confusing.
Syria is a country with a special historical flavor. The ruins of ancient cities, walls and towers of medieval castles are found everywhere here. There are also crusader castles among them, of which the first place rightfully belongs to Kraku de Chevalier. It surpasses other castles in terms of the scope of construction, the degree of preservation and the variety of fortifications. We invite you to get acquainted with the history of Krak and take a virtual walk through the castle.
The most beautiful castle in the world
Not only tourists, but also historians cannot hide their admiration for this impressive structure. Thomas Edward Lawrence (Lawrence of Arabia) during his trip to the East at the beginning of the twentieth century. wrote enthusiastically about him: “... the most beautiful castle in the world, just a real miracle" Another famous researcher P. Boase compared it with such architectural wonders as the Parthenon and Chartres Cathedral.
Today Krak des Chevaliers stands 25 kilometers from the Latakia-Homs highway. The castle rises on the top of Mount Jabal Ansariyya, at an altitude of 750 m. In clear weather, from here in the south you can distinguish the high spurs of the Lebanese ridge and even the sea coast. The geographical location of the castle was chosen extremely well. The green valley at its foot is part of the natural passage between the Mediterranean coast and the interior of Syria. During the era of the Crusades, this passage became the natural border between the Christian county of Tripoli and the Muslim emirates of Hama and Homs. Krak, advanced far to the northeast of the Christian domains, should cover the approaches to the main ports of the county of Tartus and Tripoli. It also served as an important outpost for the Crusaders in their incursions into Muslim territory.
Even before the arrival of the crusaders, on the site of the current castle there was a small fortress of Hosn al-Safah, i.e. "castle on the slope." In 1031, the emir of Aleppo Shibl ad Daula settled a colony of Kurds here so that they could guard the road to Tripoli. After this, the fortress began to be called Hosn al-Akrad, i.e. "Castle of the Kurds" From here, as researchers believe, came the name given to the place by the crusaders: Krat, which later transformed into Krak. On the other hand, in the local dialect there was an Aramaic word “kark”, meaning fortress. Both names of the castle acquired a similar sound over time. By the way, the modern name, Krak de Chevalier, i.e. “castle of knights” is an invention of later times - like the modern Arabic name of the castle Qalaat al-Hosn.
Citadel of the Order of St. John
Krak was first occupied by the crusaders back in 1099. Then his siege lasted only a few days. Fearing for their fate if the castle was taken by storm, the soldiers of the garrison and surrounding residents descended from the walls on a moonless night and escaped. The fortress finally passed into the hands of Christians only in 1110. Tancred, the ruler of Antioch, the first owner of the castle, soon handed it over to Pons, Count of Tripoli. However, it was difficult for the counts of Tripoli to maintain the fortifications in proper order and maintain a permanent garrison in a remote castle. In addition, starting from 1115, Muslims constantly made attempts to regain this important strategic point for themselves. Finally, in 1142, Raymond II, Count of Tripoli, by solemn act transferred it, along with the surrounding territories, to the military-religious Order of St. John, more commonly known as the Order of the Hospitallers.
A strong earthquake in September 1157 caused significant damage to Krak's fortifications. By order of the Grand Master of the Order, Raymond de Puy, they were restored, strengthened and somewhat expanded. After a new earthquake in 1170, even more large-scale construction work was undertaken, radically changing the previous appearance of the castle and giving it the features that it retains to this day. First of all, the walls, which had fallen into disrepair, were rebuilt and rebuilt, significantly increasing their height and providing seven observation towers. Outside the castle fortifications, another outer belt of walls was built, also with twelve towers, which was supposed to make it difficult for the enemy to access the main line of defense. After a new series of earthquakes in 1201–1202. The castle walls received a massive glacis slope, which increased their resistance both to ram strikes and to destructive tremors.
Graphic reconstruction of the castle in its heyday
The scale and power of the fortifications brought Krak its well-deserved fame and contributed to its transformation into the most important center of the Hospitaller possessions in northern Syria. It was here that the residence of the master of the order was located, above which his banner rose. Eleven times the castle acted as a gathering point for troops preparing to undertake an expedition against Muslim possessions. In turn, the Muslims repeatedly tried to besiege it. In 1163, Sultan Nur ad-Din suffered such a defeat at its walls that he was forced to flee half-naked on a bareback horse, saving his own life. His heir Salah ad-Din twice in 1180 and 1188. approached the castle walls, however, having become convinced of the power of the fortifications, he left without even trying to attack them. In 1207, the Hospitallers repelled an attack by the army of his brother Malik al-Adil. In 1218, the son of the previous one, Malik al-Ashraf, stood under the walls for several months, but was never able to break into the castle.
The first three decades of the 13th century. were the zenith of the power and glory of the owners of Krak. At this time, the Hospitallers received 4,000 dinars in tribute from the Emir of Hama, and local peasants paid them another 2,000 dinars. The castle garrison in normal times consisted of 600 soldiers: 100 of them were knights of the Order, and 500 were sergeants and privates. Often the defenders of the castle included guests from other order territories. So, in 1233, more than 2,000 warriors gathered here, of which 100 knights arrived from Cyprus, 80 from Jerusalem and 30 from Antioch.
From hand to hand
In 1249, after the defeat of the VII Crusade, difficulties began for the defenders of the Holy Land. Muslims increasingly attacked the possessions of the Hospitallers; under their attacks, their territory was steadily shrinking, and along with it, treasury revenues were decreasing. The number of new crusaders arriving from Europe became ever smaller. In 1268, the Grand Master of the Order, Hugo Revel, complained that the garrison of Krak had been reduced to only three hundred warriors. The premonition of trouble did not deceive the grandmaster. On March 3, 1271, the Egyptian Sultan Baybars, joining forces with the Syrian emirs, began the last siege of the fortress.
The castle had a five-year supply of food, and it was hardly possible to hope to starve its defenders. We could only hope for a direct assault on the fortifications. Every step on the path to victory was given to the Muslims with considerable blood. First, they had to climb up a narrow path that was well shot from the castle walls. Having climbed up, they had to drag the siege engines along with them. 28 mangonel throwing machines installed around the castle continuously threw huge stones at it. The eastern and southern parts of the fortifications were badly damaged by the shelling.
On March 15, Muslims broke into the courtyard through gaps in the eastern wall. The entrance to the castle citadel was blocked by four gates. Around every corner the attackers met well-organized resistance. Baybars gave the order to dig a tunnel under the walls. When the work was completed and the Muslims broke into the citadel on March 29, the last defenders of the castle retreated to the southern redoubt. Here were the largest towers and everything needed to endure a siege. Faced with such stubbornness, the Sultan chose to resort to cunning. On his orders, a fake letter was prepared, allegedly from the grandmaster of the Order, in which the besieged were ordered to lay down their arms. After a reliable person delivered this order to the castle, on April 8, 1271, the garrison of Krak capitulated. The surviving knights were released to Tripoli, and the castle passed into the hands of Baybars. According to the peace concluded soon, the crusaders were forced to cede a number of fortresses - such was the price that the loss of this key place cost.
South side of the castle fortifications. It was here that the Saracens managed to break through the outer belt of fortifications and break into the space between the first and second walls. When the castle passed into Muslim hands, a massive rectangular tower was built to protect the southern side, which still stands today.
Baybars immediately began to restore the destroyed fortifications, so that soon Krak again acquired a formidable appearance. For some time he served his new masters in the fight against the crusaders and their attempts to take revenge for their defeat. However, after Baybars’s heir, Sultan Qalaun, took Tripoli in 1281, its military importance faded. The castle was not affected by the invasion of Syria by Timur's troops in 1401, nor by the Ottoman conquest in 1506. At one time it served as the residence of the Turkish governor of the province. However, the governor soon found a more comfortable shelter for himself, and the garrison left after him.
The only inhabitants of the castle were local peasants. Without a shadow of a doubt, they used the interior for their own economic needs and extracted stone from old buildings. After 1859, European tourists increasingly began to visit Krak. In 1927, restoration work began at the castle. A team of archaeologists, led by Paul Deschamps, worked for several years to return the castle to its original appearance. In 1934, a museum was opened here, which is visited by thousands of tourists every year. In 1974, the castle was declared a UNESCO cultural heritage site.
A masterpiece of medieval fortification
The location of the castle largely determines its defensive architecture. As mentioned earlier, Krak occupies an elongated hilltop. Repeating its shape, the castle has the shape of a trapezoid in plan with the top directed to the north and the base oriented to the south. The length of its sides is about 200 m, the width of the base is about 150 m, so the total area of the space inside the walls does not exceed 2.5 hectares. Nature reliably protected the castle from enemy attacks. From the east, north and west, the steep slopes of the hill make it almost inaccessible.
Only from the south, where the ledge of the ridge communicates with the adjacent neighboring hill, could the enemies set up a camp, install siege engines and carry out an attack. The defenders of the castle tried to reduce the danger by digging up the ridge with several lines of ditches and building a triangular counter-scarp. The line of walls on this side had the maximum width; it was here that the most powerful and tall towers were located.
The walls and towers of the castle were erected in such a way that they rise above each other in ledges. This is especially clearly visible from the most dangerous southern side of the fortifications.
Like many other fortifications of this time, Krak was created gradually, over several centuries. Initially it was a rather weak fortification with a single tower. In the course of subsequent construction work, he acquired first one, and then two belts of walls with towers, ledges rising above each other. Such fortifications belong to the so-called. concentric type, since their defense is consistently built on several levels. The road to the castle passed under the walls of the outer defense belt; access to the interior of the fortifications was through a narrow corridor at the foot of the second-level walls. Having broken through the wall and pursuing the retreating defenders of the castle, the enemy had to overcome more and more new lines of defense one after another.
Various traps awaited him inside the castle. All corridors were shot in several directions, the passages were blocked by bars falling from above. The path to the gate was arranged in such a way that it was possible to move along it only by turning to the wall with your right side, not protected by a shield. The “dead zone” at the foot of the fortifications was shot through from box-shaped projections of machicolations hung on the wall, etc.
Section of the wall above the entrance gate. Pay attention to the remains of machicolations, which made it possible to fire at the enemy in the dead zone at the foot of the walls
The main entrance to the castle is on the east side. The Crusaders put a lot of effort into strengthening it. The gate is protected by a rectangular tower, slightly protruding forward beyond the line of the walls. Another tower, larger and more massive than the first, was erected 30 meters to the south, flanking the passage on the left side. This system made it possible to keep the passage under cross-fire. Both towers were heavily damaged during the assault and were subsequently restored. Between 1254 and 1269 the Crusaders built another gate on the north side of the castle. Apparently, they were used if, during a surprise attack by the enemy, it was necessary to quickly let the inhabitants of the surrounding villages and their livestock into the castle. Two towers were built on both sides of the gate to protect it. During the assault of 1271 they were also destroyed; During the reconstruction of the castle, the parts of the towers protruding forward were rounded. Today, these gates remain blocked and half-filled with earth. Small gates for secret attacks also existed on the southern and western sides of the fortifications.
Walk through the castle
Let's try to enter the castle through the main entrance. A wooden drawbridge leads to the gate. Above the arch there is an Arabic inscription made in honor of Sultan Baybars. The text tells of the restoration work undertaken on his orders after the castle fell into Muslim hands. Passing under the arched vaults, visitors find themselves in a small guardroom. From here begins a long vaulted corridor that runs along the entire eastern wall of the castle in a southerly direction. The floor of the corridor, paved with large, irregularly shaped slabs with very wide steps, made it easy for not only pedestrians, but also horsemen to move along it. To the left of the passage, vast halls open up, directly adjacent to the outer defensive walls. They housed knights' stables, cattle stalls, and utility rooms. The road under the arches of the corridor, having passed almost 90 m to the south, then makes a sharp bend and turns again to the north. Once upon a time this was the entrance to the castle. The left wall of the gallery was then the outer surface of the fortress wall. At the site of the fork that connected both legs of the corridor, there is a small pentagonal tower. It is the last construction of the Crusaders in the castle, completed shortly before 1270. The façade of the building facing the courtyard is decorated above the entrance with heraldic images of lions - the symbols of Baibars.
From the exit of the tower there is a grandiose view of the most fortified southern part of the castle. Directly in front of visitors' feet is a large ditch filled with water, 72 m long and 16 m wide. Its purpose was to prevent undermining of the most vulnerable side of the fortifications. Usually such ditches were placed behind fortress walls, but in Krak its significance was not limited to fortification purposes. Water from the fortress moat was used for household needs: washing, washing, watering livestock, etc. It was brought here by an aqueduct adjacent to the southwestern corner tower. From the bottom of the moat, the mighty walls of the castle’s inner defensive belt rise up at a high angle.
The courtyard in the southern part of the castle. A ditch is visible directly under the wall. On the right, at the very edge, part of the pentagonal tower is visible, in which the eastern gallery leading to the entrance to the castle is located. Overhanging the moat is a massive glacis on the most fortified southern side of the citadel. Three massive towers seem to grow from the surface of the wall. On the right is tower number 21, in the middle is the “Montfret Tower”, then the “Master’s Tower”
The same area from a different shooting point. To the right is a pentagonal tower leading to the eastern gallery and the main gate of the castle. Above the entrance to it are heraldic lions, which were the coat of arms of Sultan Baibars. Overhanging the tower is the glacis of the citadel and tower No. 21
Their lower part at the very base is beveled, forming the so-called glacis, or slope. The Glacis is a late structure, added to the walls only at the beginning of the 13th century. It played the role of a giant buttress and was erected not only for defensive purposes, but also to protect against the destructive effects of earthquakes. The total height of the walls in this part of the castle is 26 m, and their thickness at the base reaches 5 meters. In the upper part, the surface of the walls is crowned by three large towers. Their outer side, cut with loopholes for archers, faces south. The entrance to the towers is from the side of the citadel. It was here that the last defenders of the castle defended themselves in 1271.
On the other side of the moat there is a passage into a 60-meter vaulted gallery, which is adjacent to the wall of the outer defensive belt. Judging by the remains of stone hitching posts, there was a huge stable here. The gallery, like the entire southern wall, is the creation of Muslim builders. During the assault, the main blow of the attackers fell here. The two round towers that existed here were so damaged that they actually had to be rebuilt. Having rebuilt the wall, the masons built a gallery. However, perhaps they used the remains of the Crusader buildings that previously existed here.
To strengthen the defense of the southern part of the castle, its new owners additionally erected a massive rectangular tower here. It protrudes far beyond the line of the walls, which makes it possible to keep the dead zone at their foot and the approaches to the ditch under fire. The height of the tower is 15 m. The wide upper platform was intended for the installation of throwing machines. Along the perimeter it is protected by battlements with loopholes cut into them for archers. A narrow staircase leads from the tower down into a gallery, and from there descends into an outer moat at the foot of the walls. The neighboring round corner tower, squat and massive on the outside, surprises with its elegant interior architecture. A slender octagonal column supports the vault of the vast hall. There are loopholes and windows in the walls.
Elbow of the eastern gallery. The passage down leads to the main gate of the castle, up - to the entrance to the citadel
Let's cross the courtyard again, go back into the tower with images of lions above the entrance and from the fork we will go up to the entrance to the citadel. The angle of elevation in this bend of the corridor is much steeper than in the lower gallery. Light enters the gallery through loopholes cut into the walls and ceiling. Judging by how well the gate is fortified, it was once the external entrance to the castle. The gate itself is a vaulted passage framed by so-called broken arches, that is, slightly pointed at the top. On its sides there are two small guard cells. On the wall you can see a groove intended for a lifting grille. In the side walls there are niches for a door bolt. The gate opens onto the courtyard, which is the center of the entire structure. Like the entire castle, the courtyard has a trapezoidal shape. Initially, its middle was framed around the perimeter by a vaulted gallery. The total length of the gallery is 120 m with a width of 8 m. It was built at the beginning of the 12th century. and restored in the middle of the next century. During this restoration, the original architecture of the castle courtyard underwent changes. In its western part a Great Hall with an open gallery appeared; the southern part was raised on a special platform, forming an extensive utility courtyard.
Inner courtyard of the citadel. Right under your feet is the roof of the utility yard. The open part of the yard resembles a triangle in plan. On the left side there is a gallery and behind it the Great Hall. The portico is visible right before your eyes, in the shadow of which the entrance to the chapel is hidden. A stone staircase runs across the end of the chapel to the upper platform of the walls. On the left you can see the “princess tower”, one of the oldest buildings in the castle. On the right is a tower, the battle platform of which is the roof of the chapel
Coming out of the gate into the courtyard, we immediately see the chapel building on the right. It is one of the oldest buildings of the castle, erected at the beginning of the 12th century. After the terrible earthquake of 1170, the building was significantly rebuilt and expanded. Today the chapel is a high single-nave hall covered with a heavy vault. Light enters here through a wide window in the center of the semicircular apse. The deep embrasure of the window emphasizes the thickness and strength of the masonry walls. The extremely simple appearance of the chapel, devoid of ornamental decor, goes surprisingly well with the fortress architecture. The only decoration of the hall are the flat columns of the pilaster. Once upon a time the walls were decorated with frescoes. During the restoration, traces of images of the Mother of God with Christ and St. John. Another decoration was the banners and military trophies hung here on the walls, as well as the weapons of fallen knights. Under the floor slabs of the chapel lie the remains of the most famous knights and heads of the Order of the Hospitallers. During excavations, six such burials were discovered under the portal. The chapel also served defense purposes. Its roof was used as the upper platform of the tower; above the apse there was a narrow passage along the wall, cut through with loopholes. From here archers could defend the approaches to the citadel gates. Immediately after the capture of Krak, a mosque was built in the chapel. It was used in this capacity until the 20th century.
The roof of the utility yard and the moat - a “wolf’s leap” - separating the citadel towers from it. A stone staircase leads to the “Montfret Tower”, then the corner of the “Master’s Tower” is visible
The façade of the Great Hall, located on the western side of the courtyard, contrasts with the severity and severity of the architecture of the castle chapel. Its premises were built during the reconstruction of the castle in the 1250s. Here the Knights Hospitaller gathered for advice and shared meals. The interior space of the hall is covered with cross vaults. Its height reaches 10 m. The arches supporting the vault rest on carved capitals of Gothic style columns. Thin column trunks contrast well with the massive architecture of the structure. The end northern wall of the hall is cut through by a large window, or tympanum, decorated with openwork carvings in the form of flowers and leaves. Even more elegant was the sculptural decor of the gallery connected to the Great Hall. Both structures were built at the same time. From the gallery, ordinary knights and sergeants could watch and listen to how the councils of the leaders of the order proceeded. This was also the favorite place of communication for the inhabitants of the castle: facing east, the gallery is illuminated by the sun only in the morning, and during the hot part of the day there is a pleasant coolness here. The façade of the gallery is divided into two doors and five windows. The doorways are decorated rather modestly, but the windows are extremely beautiful: two semicircular arches are inscribed in a slightly pointed arch, resting on double columns; the upper parts of the arches are solid, the space of the tympanum above them is filled with an openwork five-petal rose. The gallery is reminiscent of contemporary monuments of Gothic architecture of the 13th century.
On the south side of the courtyard there is a large platform resting on numerous pillars. The vaulted low halls under its floor were used as utility rooms. The food supplies and fodder collected here were enough to withstand an enemy siege for 5 years. The complexity of the passages in the western part of the courtyard forms a real labyrinth. It is all the more difficult to navigate in it because sunlight does not penetrate here. In one of the compartments you can find the 5-meter round base of a huge oven, in which bread was baked daily for the inhabitants of the castle. The stove was heated with wood; Due to its large size, heating it was a long process, so the fire here had to be maintained constantly. Water for kneading the dough was taken from a 27-meter well cut into the rock, located in the next room. It rose to the top using a wooden wheel. In the southern part of the farm yard there were rooms for storing olive oil, as well as a press. The upper open part of the platform also had a practical purpose: bread was threshed here. At the top of one of the towers in the northern part of the castle there was a windmill, where the grain obtained in this way was ground into flour.
View of the citadel from the southwest side. In the foreground is the Master's Tower
The citadel in the southern part of the castle forms an independent fortification. The staircase that leads here today from the upper platform of the utility yard did not exist in the past. The citadel was separated from the rest of the castle by a 3-meter ditch, called the “wolf’s leap” by military builders of that time. The passage through the ditch was most likely made of wood and, if necessary, was easily destroyed. In the south-eastern part of the citadel there is a massive tower No. 21. Its unusually wide loopholes were intended for firing from powerful easel crossbows. The same loopholes were installed in the gallery connecting it with the neighboring tower. The wide upper platform of the gallery was used to install throwing machines. Tower No. 22, or "Montfret Tower", hangs over the south side of the fortifications, like a ship's breakwater. Outside, it is surrounded by an open gallery with battlements and loopholes for archers. The thickness of the wall here reaches 5 m. The entrance to the tower is on the eastern side and is located approximately at the height of human height. Apparently, there was once a ladder leading here, which was removed in a moment of danger. Immediately to the left of the entrance is a guard room, which was also a toilet. A narrow staircase, hidden in the thickness of the wall, leads to the upper platform. Climbing the stairs, on the left you can see letters and magical graffiti signs left here by the inhabitants of the castle.
Of all the fortifications of the citadel, the southwestern tower is the best preserved. Initially, like other towers, there were halls illuminated by narrow loopholes. However, in the last period of the castle’s existence, the commandant’s apartments, the so-called “master’s chambers,” were built here. They were decorated with more grace than other rooms. The loopholes of the hall were turned into two wide windows, framed on the outside by double pointed arches. The walls were decorated with four columns with carved capitals. An elegant relief frieze surrounded the perimeter of the upper part of the hall. The "Master's Tower" is the highest point of the castle. Along a narrow staircase you can climb to its upper platform, which has now lost the jagged parapet that once framed it. The base of the small watchtower that stood above is still visible here. From the upper platform there is a magnificent view of the castle located at the foot of the tower, the mountain ranges surrounding it from the west, north and east, and the valley stretching to the south. In good weather, a strip of the Mediterranean Sea glitters far to the west.
View of the castle from the western side of the fortifications
Syria has been on everyone's lips for the past few years. But mainly in connection with the events that take place on its territory. Nobody remembers peaceful Syria anymore. This is probably not entirely normal. Until, until peace has come in Syria. But Syria, peaceful Syria, is also interesting for the historical architectural monuments that are located on its territory. The medieval crusades left a huge mark on the history of Syria and its territory. Medieval castles from that era remain on the territory of Syria. These castles are even superior in beauty to those medieval castles located in Europe. One of these medieval pearls of Syria is the Krak des Chevaliers castle.
"The most beautiful castle in the world,
undoubtedly the most picturesque
of all the ones I've ever seen,
just a real miracle."
T. E. Lawrence (Lawrence of Arabia), 1909
Krak des Chevaliers (Krak des Chevaliers or Сrac des Chevaliers - “fortress of knights” in a mixture of French and Arabic). The castle rises approximately 500m above the El-Bukeia valley in Syria and occupies a strategic position along the only route from Antioch to Beirut and the Mediterranean Sea. To the east is Homs, to the west is Antioch, to the north is Tripoli and, finally, to the south is Beirut. The castle is one of the most beautiful and best preserved crusader castles.
We find the first mention of Krak des Chevaliers in Muslim chronicles, where it is called “Fortress of the Kurds” (Hisn al-Akrad). Since 1031, by order of the Emir of Aleppo, a Kurdish garrison was located in it.
During the First Crusade in 1099, the fortress was captured by Raymond of Saint-Gilles, but was abandoned as the crusaders continued their march towards Jerusalem. Everyone was so obsessed with the idea of taking possession of the Holy City that the castle eventually remained “orphaned.”
In 1102, Raymond regained the fortress, but only Tancred (French: Tancrede) was able to take complete control of the fortress and leave it with a Frankish garrison under the flag of the County of Tripoli in 1110. 
In 1142, Raymond II, Count of Tripoli (French: Raymond II) transferred the fortress to the Order of the Hospitallers named after St. John of Jerusalem. Thanks to this acquisition, the Hospitallers (also called Johannites) were able to expand their influence all the way to Lake Homs in the east.
Work to strengthen the castle gave impetus to the construction of such castles as Castel Rouge (French: Chastel Rouge) and Castel Blanc (French: Chastel Blanc). In the second half of the 12th century, after the fall of the Seljuks, following the victory of Zengi over the crusaders (the loss of Edessa), the unsuccessful siege of Damascus during the Second Crusade and the rise to power of Nur ad-Din, the Muslims joined forces and increased pressure on the crusaders - and therefore to Krak des Chevaliers.
In 1157, a strong earthquake seriously damaged the castle, and Raymond du Puy, Grand Master of the Hospitallers, decided to rebuild the castle and turned to the King of Boheme for financial assistance.
In 1163, Nureddin attacked the castle, but his army was completely defeated at the foot of the fortress by an unexpected attack by Frankish cavalry. After the victory, the Hospitallers become their own independent force on the Tripoli border. Nureddin's repeated unsuccessful attack on the fortress took place in 1167. In 1170, another earthquake shook Krak des Chevaliers and the fortress had to be rebuilt again.
Even Saladin failed to take Krak des Chevaliers. During the siege in 1188 near the walls of the fortress, the Arabs managed to capture the castellan, the keeper of the keys to the castle doors. Saladin's warriors brought him to the walls of the fortress and demanded that he order the garrison to open the gates. The castellan first gave the order in Arabic to surrender the fortress, but then, in French, he ordered to fight to the last man. By the way, a similar incident occurred during the siege of Beaufort Castle nearby.
After Saladin's death in 1193, the Muslim alliance collapsed, which gave the castle's defenders some respite. The “golden age” of the fortress began. At that time, Krak des Chevaliers could accommodate 50-60 Hospitallers and up to 2,000 ordinary soldiers with provisions for 5 years of autonomous life. It occupied an area of about 2.5 hectares and was protected by two concentric walls, independent of each other.
By the second half of the 13th century, the decline of the Crusaders' conquests forced the castle's garrison to be reduced to 300 people, and with the coming to power of Baybars, the Mameluke Sultan, the territories from which the castle usually collected tribute passed into Muslim hands. Baybars himself did not keep himself waiting long and attacked the fortress in 1271.
He managed to break through the first wall, but did not storm the castle. He sent a false letter on behalf of the Count of Tripoli, which included an order to surrender the castle. The Sultan gave his word to the defenders that he would allow them to return to their homes in exchange for the surrender of the fortress, and on April 8 the castle garrison opened the gates. Thus ended the period of 129 years of inaccessibility of the Krak des Chevaliers.
During Mamluk rule, the southern wall was strengthened and several buildings were added, including a Turkish bath and an aqueduct. The invasion of the Mongols led by Tamerlane (1400 - 1401) and the invasion of the Ottoman Empire in 1516 bypassed the fortress. Subsequently, the castle served as the residence of the governor, and in 1920 the fortress came under the control of the French mandate
The castle passed to Syria after its inclusion in the United Nations.
The Krak des Chevaliers is part of the UNESCO World Heritage Site "The Krak des Chevaliers and the Fortress of Saladin"
There are many high resolution photographs of this castle on this site. I recommend it, very beautiful.
Krak des Chevaliers
In an elevated desert area, on a rocky mountain 750 m high, dominating a narrow pass between the Lebanon and Anti-Lebanon ridges, stands the castle of Krak des Chevaliers (“Fortress of the Knights”). Formidable towers and powerful walls built from large blocks of stone hang high above the plain. The monastic Knights Hospitaller built it using the latest fortification technology of the 12th century. This is one of the most advanced castles built by the Crusaders on a narrow six-hundred-kilometer strip of the eastern coast of the Mediterranean Sea.
Even before the arrival of the crusaders, there was a small Arab fortress here. In 1109, it was captured by Prince Tancred of Antioch, who transferred it into the possession of the counts of Tripoli. In 1144, Count Raymond II of Tripoli gave it to the Knights of the Order of St. John (Hospitaliers). It was to their piles that the castle owed the appearance of the most powerful defensive structures at that time.
One of the largest medieval castles, accommodating a garrison of up to two thousand people, Krak des Chevatiers repeatedly successfully repelled enemy attacks. From 1110 to 1271 it withstood twelve sieges. Even the most outstanding Muslim commander, Sultan Saladin, could not take it. After a long siege and tough fighting, he had to leave with nothing. 80 years after the death of Saladin, the Egyptian Sultan Baybars managed to capture the fortress. At the same time, the Sultan’s warriors were able to overcome only the outer ring of defensive fortifications. The besieged garrison capitulated on honorable terms and, leaving Krak des Chevaliers, was able to freely leave for Tripoli. Soon after this, the Crusaders left the Middle East.
The Arabs made minor reconstructions in the fortress and used it for a long time. A monument to these events are numerous Arabic inscriptions preserved on the walls of Krak des Chevaliers, which mention the name of Sultan Baibars. One of these inscriptions is placed above the entrance to the castle and recalls “the renovation of this blessed fortress under Sultan Baybars in 1271.”
The narrow road running at the foot of the walls, winding, leads to the main gate of the castle. Previously, the approach to the gates was protected by a drawbridge. Now a convenient stone staircase leads to the fortress.
Surrounded by a double ring of fortress walls, the castle is practically impregnable: it is protected from the east, north and west by steep cliffs. The outer defensive line is reinforced with thirteen powerful towers; The walls, like the towers, are well preserved. The outer and inner walls are separated by a wide ditch. carved into the mainland slope. It was filled with water coming from the slopes of the hill through an aqueduct.
The excellent quality of the masonry of the fortress walls and towers, made of large, carefully hewn and fitted rectangular slabs, is surprising. Such masonry, according to researchers, is typical specifically for the structures of the Crusaders dating back to the 13th century. whereas for buildings of the 12th century. so-called rusticated masonry was used.
Behind the inner wall, on an area of about 3 hectares, there are various premises - residential buildings, barracks, grain barns, a mill, a bakery, an oil mill, and stables. The center of the castle is the courtyard, around which the main buildings are located. Initially, the courtyard was framed by long vaulted halls, which were used as warehouses and household buildings. Only one such hall has survived, having a length of 120 m and a width of 8 m. At its southern end there is a huge round oven - probably there was a kitchen here. Drinking water for the garrison came from a mountain spring through a specially laid aqueduct.
One of the earliest structures of Krak des Chevaliers is the Castle Chapel. It was apparently erected in the first half of the 12th century. The dimensions of the chapel are 21.5x8.5 m. It is illuminated only by one wide window, cut through the thickness of the powerful fortress walls. The extremely simple decoration of the chapel goes surprisingly well with the harsh fortress architecture. However, the chapel itself served for defense purposes: in one of its parts there was a narrow passage along the wall with embrasures - from here archers could defend the approaches to the gates of the Upper Castle.
The Early Gothic Great Hall, where the Knights of St. John gathered for advice and shared meals, is well preserved. Its dimensions are 27x7.5 m. There is a large window in the end wall, framed with personalized openwork carvings in the form of flowers and leaves.
The commandant's rooms were located in the southwestern tower of the castle. The Grand Master of the Order of St. John stayed here during his visits to the castle. This tower is the highest point of the castle. You can climb a narrow staircase to the upper platform, which offers a beautiful view of the fortress and its surroundings. In good weather, the Mediterranean Sea can be seen from here to the west. In the distance, the ruins of Qalaat al-Beida (“White Castle Tower”), another Crusader fortress on the road from Tartus to Krak des Chevaliers, loom clearly. The knights built their castles in such a way that at least one more was visible from one fortress. Thus, in a relatively short time it was possible to transmit light signals and messages over long distances - for example, about an approaching enemy army.
Since 1927, restoration work has been carried out in Krak des Chevaliers, as a result of which the original appearance of the fortress was largely restored. The consensus among experts is that this castle is the best preserved and most impressive example of medieval defensive architecture in the Middle East.
