Qalaat Mehelbeh قلعة المهالبة

Like many of the sites later fortified during the Crusades, this defensive outpost began as a Byzantine fort. Under the Crusades it was a dependency of the Lord of Saone (now the Castle of Saladin) but fell to Saladin in 1188. كانت هذه القلعة حصناً دفاعياً متقدماً للبيزنطيين، وفيما بعد أثناء الحروب الصليبية كانت تابعة […]

Qalaat Ollaiqa قلعة العليقة

This relatively small castle of the Crusader era had an unusual history — it was ‘traded’, i. e. sold to the Ismaelis by the Crusaders in the 1180s. The site was probably originally a Byzantine fortified position surveying the deep gorge of the Nahr Jobar. The castle is discussed on page 238 of Monuments of […]

Tartus طرطوس

 Tartus is Syria’s second major port city. Remains of the medieval fortress of Tortosa, the headquarters of the Knights Templar, lie within the modern city, slowly being released from the clutter of the once-sleepy port town. The visit as described in ‘Monuments of Syria’ (I B Tauris, London 2009) pages 290–294 begins at the city’s […]

Qalaat Jaabr قلعة جعبر

Perhaps the most striking aspect of this Islamic fortified site is its location, today perched on an island connected to the north bank of the Euphrates Lake by a bridge. Not much remains of the castle’s interior beyond the round minaret from its mosque, but the circuit walls clearly show the typical fortified plan of the […]

Bakas Shugur قلعة الشغور و البكاس

Remains of the twin Crusader castles at Bakas Shugur lie in the northern reaches of the Syrian coastal mountains, the Jebel Ansariye. قلعتان متشابهتان من مرحلة الحروب الصليبية تقعان على السفوح الشمالية لسلسلة الجبال الساحلية السورية.  

Arwad Island ارواد

This small island lies just off the Syrian coast at Tartus. It houses two intact castles of the Crusader and Ayyubid period along with remains of the island’s Phoenician sea walls. تقع هذه الجزيرة الصغيرة على مقربة من الساحل السوري مقابل طرطوس. تضم قلعتين من العصرين الأيوبي والصليبي ما تزالان بحالة جيدة، إضافة للأسوار المجاورة […]