11.

Giblet
On the site of the Phoenician port of Byblos
Extensively refortified during the twelfth century
Ancient defenses were rebuilt as a new curtain wall with square towers and substantial
two storey keep

Byblos Castle is a castle in Byblos, Lebanon. It was built by the Crusaders in the 12th
century from indigenous limestone and the remains of Roman structures. The finished structure
was surrounded by a moat. It belonged to the genoese Embriaco family, whose members were
the Lords of Gibelet (as Byblos was called during Middle Ages). Saladin captured the town and
castle in 1188 and dismantled the walls in 1190. Later, the Crusaders recaptured Byblos and
rebuilt the fortifications of the castle in 1197. In 1369, the castle had to fend off an attack
from Cypriot vessels from Famagusta.

HISTORY
Gubal was a Canaanite city during the Bronze Age, at which time it also appears
as Gubla in the Amarna letters. During the Iron Age the city is called Gebal in Phoenician and
appears in the Hebrew Bible under the name Geval. It was much later referred to as Gibelet,
during the Crusades. The city's Canaanite/Phoenician name (GBL, i.e. Gubal, Gebal, etc.) can
be derived from gb, meaning "well" or "origin", and El, the name of the supreme god of Byblos'
pantheon. The present-day city is known by the Arabic name Jubayl or Jbeil , a direct
descendant of the Canaanite name. However, the Arabic name is most likely derived from the
Phoenician word GBL meaning "boundary", "district" or "mountain peak"; in the Ugaritic
language GBL can mean "mountain", similarly to Arabic jabal.
The Byblos Castle has distinguished historical buildings for neighbors. Near it stand a few
Egyptian temples, Phoenician Royal Necropolis and the Roman amphitheatre. These are
testament to the varied and rich history of the town of Byblos.

12. Chastel Pelerin, Atlit (Pilgrims castle)

Was built by the Templars with the help of the Teutonic knights and of the many pilgrims
to whom it deserves its name
Castle now in ruins, but plan is clearly decernable
Stands upon a peninsula commanding the approach to one of the principle passes
between the coast and the Palestinian interior

Chteau
Plerin (Castello Pelegrino
in Italian), also Atlit
fortress and Castle
Pilgrim, is a Crusader
fortress located near Atlit on
the northern coast of Israel,
about 13 kilometres (8.1 mi)
south of Haifa.
The Knights Templar began
building the fortress in 1218
during the Fifth Crusade.
One of the major Crusader
fortresses, it could support
up to 4,000 troops
in siege conditions. It was
conquered by the Mamluks in August 1291, shortly after the Fall of Acre. It remained intact for
several hundred years, until suffering damage in the Galilee earthquake of 1837. In modern
times, the castle is part of a training zone for Israeli Naval commandos. It has been described
as the 'crowning example of Crusader military architecture".

Westward view of Atlit Fortres

Construction began in early spring 1218 during the period of the Fifth Crusade by the
Knights Templar, replacing the earlier castle of Le Destroit which was situated slightly back from
the coast. The castle was built on a promontory, with two main walls cutting the citadel off from
the land. The outer wall was approximately 15 metres high and 6 metres thick, with three square
towers situated about 44 metres apart, projecting out by 12 metres with a level platform on the

roof probably for artillery. In front ran a shallow ditch dug at sea level cut into the bedrock. The
inner wall was approximately 30 metres high by 12 metres, with two square towers, the north
and south each approximately 34 metres tall. As the inner wall was taller than the outer wall,
defenders were able to shoot at targets over the first wall allowing greater protection from return
fire by the besiegers. Part of the design of the castle included a protected harbour on the south
side of the promontory. It also had three fresh water wells within its enclosure. The castle was
capable of supporting up to 4000 troops during a siege, as it did in 1220. The settlement
of Atlit developed outside the castle's outer wall and was later fortified. The castle's position
dominated the north-south coastal route, and surrounding countryside allowing it to draw
revenue from tolls and rents, going some way to pay for the running costs of the castle; as well
as providing protection for pilgrims. The castle probably got its name from pilgrims who
volunteered their labour during its construction.

13. Saone
At the north of Gebel Alawi
Was built on a site previously fortified by the Greeks in Byzantine fashion
With a thin outer curtain wall punctuated with shallow rectangular towers and a keep
commanding the most valuable part of the curtain

The Citadel of Salah Ed-Din (Arabic: Qal'at Salah al-Din) is a castle in Syria. It is also
known as Sane orSaladin Castle. It is located 7 km east of Al-Haffah town and 30 km east of
the city of Latakia, in high mountainous terrain on a ridge between two deep ravines
and surrounded by forest, the site has been fortified since at least the mid 10th century. In 975
the Byzantine Emperor John I Tzimiskes captured the site and it remained under Byzantine
control until around 1108. Early in the 12th century the Franks assumed control of the site and it
was part of the newly formed Crusader state of the Principality of Antioch. The Crusaders
undertook an extensive building programme, giving the castle much of its current appearance.
In 1188 it fell to the forces of Saladin after a three-day siege. The castle was again besieged in
1287, this time both defender and belligerent were Mamluks. In 2006, the castles of Qal'at
Salah El-Din and Krak des Chevaliers was recognised as a World Heritage Site by UNESCO.
The site is owned by the Syrian government.

OVERVIEW
Sane was built on a ridge some 700 metres (2,300 ft) long between two deep gorges. It
guarded the route between Latakia and the city of Antioch. The spur on which the castle is built
is connected to a plateau in the east. The Byzantines defended the site by building a wall across
the east side of the ridge. The walls created an irregular enclosure and were studded with
flanking towers. Adjacent to the fortification, at the eastern end of the ridge was a
settlement. One of the most magnificent features of the fortress is the 28 m deep ditch, which
was cut into living rock. The creation of the ditch has been attributed to the Byzantines. This
ditch, which runs 156 meters along the east side, is 14 to 20 meters wide and has a lonely 28 m
high needle to support the drawbridge.
The entrance to the castle is through an entrance on the south side of the fortress. On the right
of the entrance is a tower, a bastion built by the Crusaders. There is another a few meters
further. There is a cistern for water storage and some stables just next to a massive keep that
overlooks the ditch. This keep has walls of 5 m thick and it covers an area of nearly 24 m.
Further on to the north is the gate where the drawbridge used to be. Also evident are the
Byzantine citadel, located at the center of the fortress, another large cistern, the Crusader tea
house, and a Crusader church adjoining one of two Byzantine chapels.
As for the Arab additions to the fortress they include a mosque, which dates back to
sultan Qalawun, and a palace, which includes baths with courtyards and iwans. This has been
slightly restored.

14. Krak of the Knights

Described by T. E. Lawrence as the best preserved and wholly most admirable castle in
the world
Is the eastern a chain of five castles sited so as to secure the Homs Gap
The plan is completely concentric, having two lines of defence, the inner raparts lying
lose close to the outer and continuously dominating them

ARCHITECTURE

Plan of Krak des Chevaliers from Guillaume Rey tude sur les monuments de l'architecture
militaire des croiss en Syrie et dans l'le de Chypre (1871). North is on the right.

The inner court seen from the south

Hall of the knights, 2009

Writing in the early 20th century, T. E. Lawrence, popularly known as Lawrence of
Arabia, remarked that Krak des Chevaliers was "perhaps the best preserved and most wholly
admirable castle in the world, [a castle which] forms a fitting commentary on any account of the
Crusading buildings of Syria". Castles in Europe provided lordly accommodation for their owners
and were centers of administration; in the Levant the need for defence was paramount and was
reflected in castle design. Kennedy suggests that "The castle scientifically designed as a
fighting machine surely reached its apogee in great buildings like Margat and Crac des
Chevaliers.
Krak des Chevaliers can be classified both as a spur castle, due to its site, and after the 13thcentury expansion a fully developed concentric castle. It was similar in size and layout to Vadum
Jacob, a Crusader castle built in the late 1170s. Margat has also been cited as Krak des
Chevaliers' sister castle.The main building material at Krak des Chevaliers was limestone;
the ashlar facing is so fine that the mortar is barely noticeable. Outside the castle's entrance
was a "walled suburb" known as a burgus, no trace of which remains. To the south of the outer
ward was a triangular outwork and the Crusaders may have intended to build stone walls and
towers around it. It is unknown how it was defended at the time of the 1271 siege, though it has
been suggested it was surrounded by a timber palisade. South of the castle the spur on which it
stands is connected to the next hill, so that siege engines can approach on level ground. The
inner defences are strongest at this point, with a cluster of towers connected by a thick wall.