Crac des Chevaliers and Qal’at Salah El-Din
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How it came to be
These two castles in western Syria trace how Byzantine, Crusader and Islamic fortification evolved between the 11th and 13th centuries. In 1031 a Mirdasid emir settled Kurdish tribesmen on the site of Crac des Chevaliers, which became known as the Fortress of the Kurds. The Crusader Tancred took it in 1110, and in 1142 Raymond II, Count of Tripoli, gave it to the Knights Hospitaller.
The Hospitallers rebuilt the castle between 1142 and 1271, repairing it again after earthquakes in 1170 and 1202. In 1271 the Mamluks captured it after a 36-day siege and added a massive square tower. With its eight round towers, it is regarded as the best-preserved castle of the Crusader period.
Qal'at Salah El-Din was a fortress captured by the Byzantine emperor John I Tzimiskes in 975, and early in the 12th century it became the Frankish castle of Saône. Its rock-cut ditch is 28 metres deep and 156 metres long, with a 28-metre needle of rock left to carry the drawbridge. Saladin's forces took it in 1188 after a three-day siege. Both castles were inscribed in 2006 and placed on the danger list in 2013. Crac des Chevaliers was shelled in 2012 and damaged by an airstrike in July 2013.
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