The medieval castles of Syria. Castle Markab. In Syria, restore the castle of the crusaders Krak de Chevalier Crusader fortresses in Syria

Hama
Being almost in the center of the country, the small city of Hama may well (and more than worthy) fall into the attention of every traveler. Probably, today Hama is primarily known for the fact that in the 80s the Syrian government brutally and bloody crushed the rebellion of a radical Muslim group (Syria, I remind you, is a secular country, and this very secular country is guarded by the army whose tanks fired on then the city for weeks - however, in my humble opinion, this is better than rampant radical Islam, well, Allah is with them).

But what really interesting and attractive the Hama is with its elevators - huge wooden wheels located along the banks of the river flowing through the city. The main function of these wheels is to scoop up water and deliver it through special aqueducts to agricultural fields. But the trick is that these norii are several hundred years old. And now, as in the Middle Ages, these wheels, creaking gloomily and gloomily, continue to spin in front of the astonished traveler, watching them either in the immediate vicinity, or in the evening, when the norias are lit by a mysterious orange light, or from the top of the hill, from where from the local park, you can see the river bend with wheels stuck in different places - from small to very impressive in size.













Aleppo
No matter how trivial for this story it may sound, it should be noted that Aleppo is another place in Syria where every stone breathes history. This city has been known since ancient times and has always been an important political and commercial center.
As in any self-respecting eastern city, in the very center of Aleppo, the Old Town is located, full of narrow streets, wooden houses, shopping arcades, breathtaking balconies, doors and windows, tiny cozy mosques, one of which looks like a copy of the famous Umayyad mosque in Damascus (which it is not surprising - it was built at the same time, shortly after the Arab conquest of Syria) and the townspeople hurrying somewhere in their business. Above the Old City (and, honestly, and over all Aleppo), stands a citadel built on an artificial hill, dating from the 13th century. To get to this city in the city, you need to go along the narrow bridge thrown across the moat, then make your way through the fortress walls, the passages through which, it seems, are still guarded by invisible guards, and climb the narrow staircase. And you get to the top, where the ruins of buildings have been preserved, among which you can even get lost for a while, where there are coffee houses with delicious coffee and where you can admire beautiful views of the ancient and always modern Aleppo lying underfoot.
















The new part of the city is interesting for its beautiful tiny train station, as well as for houses, many of which subtly (especially with rounded balconies) resemble Paris and Barcelona. In addition, in the new part of Aleppo, there is a Christian (mainly the Armenian quarter; by the way, it seems visually purely that there are more Christians in Aleppo than anywhere else in Syria), in the center of which is a yellow and white church, and around there are cozy cafes and ivy twisted stone walls of the alleys.














Latakia

Latakia is, it seems, a never-sleeping, forever seething seaside city, where you can get from Aleppo by rail, which is picturesquely laid among a rocky ridge. Nearly Latakia is located almost the only beach in Syria (to admit, it’s very rotten), but this is not the main thing, but you can close your eyes and, standing here, on the extreme eastern coast of the Mediterranean Sea, almost clearly imagine its gate - the Gibralatarsky Strait . And to see the whole path that the greatest navigators of antiquity, the Phoenicians, who sailed from these shores, leading their ships to uncharted lands, to the west.






Tartus

Tartus is a rather faceless coastal port city, which is given charm only by the Mediterranean Sea, which absorbs a huge orange disk, a Christian church, more like an outpost of the fortress, and a cafe on the waterfront, where hookah smokers are local residents who look like pirates.




But everything changes when the boat, jumping on the waves of the sea and wrapping everything around with splashes, takes you to the most beautiful place in the vicinity of Tartus - the small island of Arvad, the last bastion of the once vast lands of the crusaders in the Middle East. The island is completely built up, and the narrow, winding streets smelled of fish through, the walls of the houses are covered with color drawings on a marine theme, and between the balconies there are ropes on which laundered clothes are dried. The full feeling that you really are on the Mediterranean Sea, but not here, in the extreme eastern part, but much westward, somewhere in the south of Italy. White boats swaying gently swaying on the waves are moored to the pier, and a little tarred wooden skeletons are standing in the depths of Arvad - the island is known for its master shipbuilders.










Castle of saladin
Any visit to Syria would be incomplete without a visit to one of the many castles with which all the surroundings of the sea coast are built. As you know, in the Middle Ages, Western Europeans made crusades to the Middle East, founded their principalities here and, of course, built their fortresses here. But not only the crusaders were engaged in castle building - the Arabs did it. One of the famous figures who fought with the crusaders was Saladin, who built his castle on a hill towering above the quiet, green and cozy valleys covered with pine trees, in the vicinity of modern Latakia. There wasn’t so much left from the once powerful fortress, but still enough to feel all the strength and power of the structure - you just need to wander through the mysterious ruins on the top of a steep hill and be sure to see the suspension bridge, thrown at a solid height to a neighboring hill - so high that your heart goes into heels when you stand on the edge of the bridge, the wind whistles at the tops of the pines and in your ears, and the tourist buses below seem like toys.















Markab Castle

But the castle of Markab was built just by the crusaders. It is not as famous and popular as the others, which allows you to wander through the white-gray ruins almost in complete solitude. The castle stands on a high hill towering above the Mediterranean Sea; the hillsides under your feet are completely covered with agricultural greenhouses, and even a little further, quite on the seashore, you can see the wide freeway and the disgustingly endearing chemical plant built next to it - the spectacle is really impressive and unforgettable.












Castle Crac de Chevalier

Krak de Chevalier is a beautifully preserved castle built by the Crusaders in the 12-13th centuries, which is a kind of symbol of all the castles of Syria. Perhaps, there is little exaggeration in this statement, and the Crac de Chevalier rightfully takes its place in the route of many travelers. The castle, as usual, stands on top of a hill. Below is a Syrian village, whose houses seem to be stuck to the rocks, and inside you can see stunning beauty - a true masterpiece of medieval Gothic, lovingly arranged by the crusaders. Here you can wander almost endlessly, discovering more and more new species behind each piers and the turn of the mazes. Crac de Chevalier just need to see - he is famous and famous by right.

“The most beautiful castle in the world,
without a doubt the most picturesque
of all Iever saw,
just a real miracle. "
T.E. Lawrence (Lawrence of Arabia), 1909

Crac de Chevalier (Krak des chevaliers or Сraс des Chevaliers- “Fortress of the Knights” in a mixture of French and Arabic). The castle rises at an altitude of approximately 500 m. Above the valley of El Buqueia (El-Bukeia) in Syria and occupies a strategic position along the only route from Antioch to Beirut and to the Mediterranean Sea. In the east of it is Homs, in the west of Antioch, in the north - Tripoli and, finally, in the south - Beirut. The castle is one of the most beautiful and best preserved castles of the crusaders.

The first mention of the Krak des Chevaliers we find in Muslim chronicles, where it is called "Kurdish Fortress" (Hisnal-Akr ad). FROM 1031 gby order of Emir Aleppo, a Kurdish garrison was located in it. During the First Crusade in 1099 g the fortress was captured by Raymond Saint-Gilles (Fr. Raymond deSaint-gilles ) but was abandoned when the crusaders continued their march to Jerusalem. Everyone was so embraced by the idea of \u200b\u200btaking possession of the Holy City that the castle eventually remained "homeless."

Europeans in the Middle Ages made the well-known Crusades to Palestine beyond the Holy Sepulcher, planting their own culture on the road, completely alien to Muslims. 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 Crac de Chevalier, located on the territory of modern Syria, east of the Lebanese city of Tripoli at the top of a cliff more than 650 meters high.

Before the Europeans arrived, the castle was quite small, and was called the “Castle of the Kurds”. He was occupied by the Kurdish garrison of Emir Aleppo, guarding the land from invasions. In 1099, Raimund IV, Count of Toulouse, with great difficulty captured the fortress during the First Crusade - the besiegers were driven by the thought of treasures hidden behind the walls. The French could not remain in fortification for long - they needed to continue their campaign to Jerusalem. Therefore, soon the crusaders left the Kurdish Castle.

IN 1102 g Raymond regained the fortress, but only Tancred (French Tancrede) was able to take the fortress completely under its control and leave in it a Frankish garrison under the flag of the county of Tripoli in 1110 g

IN 1142 g. Raymond II, Count of Tripoli (French Raymond II)

(French Chastel Rouge)and castel blanc (French Chastel Blanc). In second half of the 12th century (Nurad-din )

IN 1157 (French Raymond du Puy) (Fr. Boheme).

IN 1163 g 1167 g IN 1170 g

The Maltese knights, or hospitaliers, took upon themselves the heavy 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’s fortress was too weak to withstand the onslaught of attackers, and in the 1140s the hospitaliers began a large-scale construction, increasing the fortress several times. At the end of a colossal dedicated work that lasted for a decade, the fortress became the largest stronghold of the crusaders in the Holy Land. It was called Krak de Chevalier (Kerak in Arabic - "fortress", Chevalier in French - "knight").

IN 1142 g. 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 (they were also called the Johannites) were able to expand their influence up to Lake Homs in the east.

The Ioannites rebuilt the castle, making it the largest fortress of the Holy Land, adding an external 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 Hospitallers.

Castle fortifications gave impetus to the construction of castles such 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 Zenga over the crusaders (the loss of Edessa), the unsuccessful siege of Damascus during the Second Crusade and the rise to power of Nureddin (Nurad-din ) muslims joined forces and increased pressure on the crusaders - and therefore on the Krak de Chevalier.

IN 1157 a strong earthquake seriously damaged the castle, and Raymond du Puy (French Raymond du Puy), The Grand Master of Hospitallers, decides to rebuild the castle and seeks financial help from the king of Bohemia (Fr. Boheme).

IN 1163 g Nureddin attacks the castle, but his army was defeated utterly at the foot of the fortress with an unexpected attack by the Frankish cavalry. After the victory, the Hospitallers become an independent independent force on the Tripoli border. Nureddin’s repeated unsuccessful attack on the fortress fell on 1167 g IN 1170 g the next earthquake shakes the Crac de Chevalier and the fortress again has to be rebuilt.

Even Saladin failed to take the Crac de Chevalier. During the siege in 1188 gnear the walls of the fortress, the Arabs managed to capture the castellan, the keeper of the keys to the castle doors. The soldiers of Saladin led him to the walls of the fortress and demanded that he order the garrison to open the gate. Castellan at first gave the Arabic order to surrender the fortress, but then, already in French, ordered the fight to the last man. By the way, a similar incident occurred during the siege of Beaufort Castle nearby.

After Saladin's death 1193 g.the Muslim union broke up, giving the defenders of the castle a little respite. The golden age of the fortress has come. At that time, the Crac de Chevalier could accommodate 50-60 Hospitallers and up to 2000 ordinary soldiers with provisions for 5 years of autonomous life. It occupied an area of \u200b\u200babout 2.5 hectares and was protected by two concentric walls, independent of each other.

The modest Kurdish Castle has grown to a real fortified complex, surrounded by a wall of thickness from an impressive three to monstrous thirty meters of solid masonry. The loopholes in this wall looked like long corridors. Several watch towers were erected, one of which was occupied by the Grand Master of the Order of the Knights of Malta. The castle of Crac de Chevalier included courtyards, a reservoir with a supply of water, numerous storages hidden inside the cliff, including a grandiose 120-meter hall for storing looted wealth. Hospitallers did everything so that the castle could withstand prolonged sieges and settled in it for centuries. As a result, he became famous as the most impregnable fortress in the world.

Many times Muslims came under its walls to expel strangers. For many years they tried to take the castle of Crac de Chevalier with an attack. In this case, thousands of people died. To no avail: the castle could not be successfully stormed, it could not be destroyed. Truly, it was a stronghold, not subject to any efforts. Thanks to the castle in 1188, the hospitaliers repulsed the attack of Saladin himself, a Muslim warrior, the liberator of Jerusalem, the commander who was considered invincible. But even the legendary Saladin could not do anything with the Crac de Chevalier, leaving from its walls with nothing.

Muslim troops inflicted a long series of heavy defeats on the crusaders in the region. Throughout the 13th century, Christians tried again and again to break through to Jerusalem, but this time the Muslim defenders stood firm. The Crusades ended ingloriously, bringing enormous suffering to entire nations. But the castle of Crac de Chevalier, with its garrison of two thousand soldiers, still stood, and the hospitaliers still held it securely, completely dominating the surrounding territory. For 130 years they couldn’t take it with an attack! All the castles of Christians in the region fell, and only this stronghold remained impregnable. Muslims were desperate, losing hope that at least once they would be able to expel Christians from these lands.

The Maltese knights held the fortress of the crusaders until the general situation resolutely contributed to the expulsion of Christians from the Holy Land. A strong ruler, Sultan Beybars, who united Egypt and Syria in the middle of the 13th century, flooded the district with his troops, cut off supplies, and Muslim settlements stopped paying tribute to the Krak de Chevalier. That was the beginning of the end. But the knights were about 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.

Siege machines and undermines did their job - besiegers by monstrous losses were able to break through the outer walls. The garrison fought hard: the knights retreated to the towers, and flatly refused to give up. The capture of the courtyard meant new casualties, and Baybars ordered an end to the battle. He went on a trick: the surviving defenders of the castle, who had taken refuge in the towers, were sent a forged letter from the Maltese Master from Tripoli, in which he allegedly gave permission to surrender the fortress. Only then, after 10 days, the remnants of the knightly army left their shelters and surrendered to the mercy of the victors. So the impregnable castle of Crac de Chevalier fell.

Beibars showed generosity - he did not execute the surrenders, but ... let them go! They went to France, enduring countless dangers along the way, but some still managed to get home safe. Muslims made the castle their fortress, rebuilt the destroyed towers, completed 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, it is included in the UNESCO World Heritage List. It is not easy to get to it, but tourists continue to visit this amazing place, fanned by the breath of centuries.

During the reign of the Mamluks, the southern wall was fortified and several buildings were added, including a Turkish bath and an aqueduct. The Mongol invasion led by Tamerlan (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

Crac des Chevaliers and Qal’at Salah El-Din is part of the UNESCO World Cultural Heritage Site of Crac des Chevaliers and the Fortress of Saladin.

Castle architecture

1. Lines of defense.The fortification system consisted of two concentric circles of thick walls. The defense of the outer walls was conducted 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 Beybars managed to break through the external fortification and penetrate the lower courtyard, but they could not go further. The siege lasted many months before the defenders of the fortress surrendered.
2. Supporting towers.massive walls are strengthened by supporting towers, which served as a reliable refuge for sentinels.
3. External wall.A sloping thickening at the base of the wall protected it from undermining or undermining.
4. Loopholes.The narrow slots of the loopholes, almost invulnerable to shells, usually widened inward, forming a niche in the wall. Archers watched the enemy from there and, aiming, fired.
5. Internal communication.To communicate between the fortifications, located at a considerable distance from each other, the crusaders used pigeon mail, which they borrowed from the Arabs.
6. Aqueduct.Water flowed into the castle through the aqueduct. In the event of a siege, the castle had reserves of water stored in closed containers in the dungeons.
7. Square tower.During the siege of 1271, the square tower was severely damaged and was rebuilt after 14 years. However, round towers were considered more reliable - it is more convenient to conduct a circular defense from them.
8. Vaulted galleries.A vaulted gallery stretches along the refectory walls - 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 who guarded the outer wall of the fortress.
9. Outbuildings.A windmill was installed on the tower - stocks of flour helped withstand prolonged sieges. In the dungeons of the upper courtyard were spacious storage rooms.
10. Upper tier.The defense of the upper tier of fortifications was carried out from high towers and from the courtyard, where dormitories (bedrooms), a refectory, warehouses, a chapel, and also the chambers of the knights were located.
11. Additional insurance.The walls of the upper tier are strengthened by a powerful thickening in the form of a slope, the width of which at the base reached 24.3 meters and almost equal the height of the wall. This massive structure, built in the XIII century, in addition to its defensive purpose, served as a giant buttress, even withstanding earthquakes.
12. Tricks of defense.He ramps, replacing flights of stairs, led the east gate tower to the dungeon. A winding cramped aisle interfered with the firing of wall guns. Even the abrupt change in light and shadow was confusing.

“The crusader castles were exactly the bait that Syria“ hooked ”me from the very beginning. I remembered how back in school I was reading the adventures of the brave king Richard the Lionheart and other noble knights who went on long crusades and built impregnable citadels away from home. And then it suddenly turned out that all this is not a fairy tale! Despite wars and destruction, the gloomy strongholds of the soldiers of the cross survived and still stand blown by all the winds on the rocky hills of distant Syria ...

BANIAS, SYRIA: Castles of the Crusaders - Markab. Photo: Dmitry Vozdvizhensky.

I could not go on a trip to see the castles of the crusaders. But I did not have time for all the locks. Therefore, among the many, I chose three that seemed to me the most attractive. Of course, Crac de Chevalier, it was he who was recognized by all as the best preserved before the civil war in Syria today. In addition - the black and gray Markab almost on the coast of the Mediterranean Sea and the grandiose castle of Salahaddin, which I went to first ... "

Center map

Motion

On bicycle

On the way

Visiting the Site for curious travelers is Dmitry Vozdvizhensky, my colleague, journalist, photographer, experienced traveler. With this article we will continue a series of materials under the general title “Syria before the war”, tell about how this country was just recently, and about what Syria we have irretrievably lost.

Ali Bita is not a hereditary aristocrat or a successor to a millionaire. But from birth, he lived in a huge medieval castle - the castle of Salahaddin. Before the war, it was a place of pilgrimage for tourists. And once upon a time, it was just ruins that nobody needed. Here are the ancestors of Ali Bit - the simple Bedouins - took and 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 Dream - there were enough other, more urgent concerns.

Therefore, the local population enjoyed using the buildings that were built by courageous 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, have long been relocated to new places, and Ali Bita, who spent all his childhood here, decided to stay among his native ruins forever and worked as a caretaker.

Ali Bita, the caretaker of the castle: “My family lived here a very long time, and here I was born and raised. I am so used to these stones that I decided to stay among them. For several decades now I have been working as a caretaker and I know every corner here. ”

Castle Dream turned into the castle of Salahaddin in 1957, the Syrian authorities named it after the great Arab conqueror, who managed to clear the Middle East from 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.

That sounds incredible. The powerful walls of the castle were surrounded by a huge moat. In the monolithic mountain, the crusaders dug a ditch as deep as 30 meters. This is the height of a ten-story building. Moreover, the moat was hollowed, naturally, without explosives and excavators, only with picks and shovels. It took a hundred years, but these are the details. Time itself then proceeded much more slowly.

On top of the moat was crowned the most powerful dungeon - a freestanding and most invulnerable tower. In the castle of Dream, the knights felt completely safe. Only a complete madman could attack a fortress in the forehead. But Salahaddin did not do this. He surrounded the castle, and then without much difficulty captured the lower courtyard, breaking a gap in the walls of the catapults. The crusaders believed that his loss would not complicate the defense. But they miscalculated. As a result, Salahaddin allowed them to leave, having paid a ransom: 10 dinars from men, 5 from women and 2 dinars from a child.

Ali Bita hospitably gave us tea. He said that he felt like a real host, the same as Robert de Saun, who built these phantasmagoric fortifications or Salahaddin, who took them almost without a fight.

Ali was sure that it was his cyclopean dimensions that destroyed the castle. It was the largest of all the crusader castles: an area of \u200b\u200bmore than five hectares. The knights could not strengthen it as reliably as from the side of the donjon. And in order to protect such long walls, a lot of soldiers were needed. And the Crusaders did not have them.

Salahaddin perfectly understood this serf mathematics and most likely this is why he didn’t even try to storm the smallest of the knight’s castles - the Crac de Chevalier ...

Dream, Salahaddin Castle

Dream, Salahaddin Castle

Dream, Salahaddin Castle

Dream, Salahaddin Castle

The famous adventurer Lawrence of Arabia called him the most magnificent of all the castles in the world. Traveling Syria and not visiting here is the same as visiting Moscow and not looking at the Kremlin.

Bad is the tourist who does not dream of breaking off a pebble from an ancient building: a castle, a pyramid or a temple. To do this is strictly prohibited, after all - a historical monument. But there is a special kind of travelers to whom this rule does not apply. Such tourists are called archaeologists and they do their job exclusively for the sake of science. The people who enthusiastically dismantled the roof of the medieval dungeon turned out to be Syrian and German archaeologists. Their enthusiasm is quite explainable: the last serious studies of the castle were carried out under the French, in the mid-thirties. And since then, scientists have accumulated a lot of questions for this stronghold.

This is followed by serious scientific articles and solid monographs, but for now, archaeologists look like curious children looking for fabulous pirate treasures.

Thoralph Burkert - archaeologist: “See how interesting it is. Here is the cement that the French left here. Most likely, he let water through, and therefore all the stones that are under it are raw. This is sandstone, the crusaders usually built from it, and it’s hard to say what kind of stones it is and where they came from. Maybe from the French, maybe the Turks worked, but this is hardly left here from the Middle Ages. ”

The French in the thirties carried out a serious restoration here. They relocated an entire Alawite village from here. We carried out special rails to clear the rubble. They worked for a reason. There is something to see here. Crac de Chevalier stands on top of a mountain range, at an altitude of six hundred and fifty meters above sea level. Around there are neither mountains from which it would be possible to shell the citadel, 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 the Bekaa Valley. The small garrison of this fortress could stop the whole army.

The modern look of the Crac de Chevalier acquired in the second half of the twelfth century. At that time, the fortress passed into the hands of the Knights Hospitallers. It was they who built the second row of defensive structures, which made it possible to withstand the numerous attacks of Arab warriors. Krak des Chevaliers is almost three times smaller than the castle of Salahaddin. The Franks abandoned the construction of the lower courtyard, and therefore the castle was easier to defend.

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 frightening as many other not so famous fortresses. It is very compact, and from a distance it looks just tiny. But the small size just made this bastion impregnable. In the best military campaigns, the garrison increased to four thousand people, which made it possible to create an incredibly dense defense and repel any attacks.

Krak des Chevaliers was taken at the end of the 13th century, when the position of the crusaders in the Middle East greatly weakened. The troops of the Sultan Beibars with great losses captured him after a month and a half siege. Iyas Alkhaty, a member of the Syrian-German archaeological expedition, believed that the Krak de Chevalier is the best knight's castle in the entire Middle East.

Iyas Alkhaty - archaeologist: “This is a unique castle. Everything is special here - architecture, land, atmosphere. My favorite place in Syria is, of course, Palmyra, but the Crac de Chevalier is also beyond competition. The second such castle is impossible to find anywhere in the world. "

Iyas was not alone in his love of medieval castles. Many Syrians are proud of these non-Syrian structures. In total, Syria has preserved more than a dozen excellent fortresses from the time of the Crusades. They dotted almost the entire coast. Walking through the former strongholds 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 places once chosen by the Franks. Crusader castles are 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 open up truly amazing.

At the top of the fortress tower you begin to feel the story. You are amazed at the persistence with which it was possible to build and protect, capture and destroy such fantastic structures. After spending at least half a day in a real medieval fortress in Syria, you begin to look very differently at the whole Middle East. A visit to the antique shops of Aleppo or Damascus then turns into a fascinating search for lost treasures ...

Most of them are made in the neighboring quarter. But the tourists, impressed by the castles, were glad to be deceived themselves and gladly bought these relics. After all, Salahaddin for Syria is the same Syrian brand as Napoleon for France.

This man knew how to fight, he broke the ridge of knightly orders and expelled the Europeans from the Middle East. It’s a paradox, but his tomb in Damascus was brought into proper shape solely because of the visit to the city of the European monarch, the German emperor Wilhelm II. The grave of Salahaddin almost got lost during the rapid construction in Damascus in the late nineteenth century.

. "This magazine is dedicated to travels in the East. Moreover, the word "East" here, I understand very broadly - for me it is not always a geographical concept. It just so happened that my main hobby is oriental studies, so in my blog I pay a lot of attention to the historical and cultural aspects of the countries I have visited. "

Markab is a huge castle in Syria, standing on top of a mountain near the coastline of the Mediterranean Sea. The nearest large settlement on the outskirts of the castle is the city of Banyas. I arrived in Banjas from Hama, changing three vehicles along the way. The day before, at the local tourist office in Hama, I received comprehensive information on how to get to Markab Castle, the response of the bureau official was concise - “This is impossible,” he said politely. The fact is that Hama and the Orontes river valley are separated from the coast by a very decent mountain range, and in this regard, there is no direct bus connection between the cities.

But there is a road, which means minibuses ride along it, bringing people to local small towns. First I drove to Masyaf, where I looked at a local, very impressive castle (I’ll write a report about it later), then I got to the town of Cadmus, and there it was a stone's throw away. This city is located directly on the sea, so you still need to find a minibus going to the mountains to Markab. And even that is not all, directly to the fortress you have to walk about a kilometer uphill - a fixed-route taxi goes to the nearby village, and not to the castle itself.
But you will be rewarded for your efforts with views of beautiful mountain landscapes.

Markab is translated from Arabic as “a place for observation,” and is consistent with the Frankish name Margat - the so-called Crusader castle.

The first fortress on this site was built in 1062. Subsequently, it was captured by the Byzantines, and in 1118 the fortress was given to the Franks by the local noble family of Ibn Mukhriz. The first major construction in the castle was started by the French family Masoire, which, apparently, went bankrupt at this enterprise. The fortress was sold to the Prince of Antioch, who transferred the castle to his vassals - Mansers. These knights also did not pull Markab and sold it in 1186 to the Order of Hospitallers.
Hospitallers held the castle for almost a hundred years, fighting off numerous Muslim attacks.

Under the walls of the castle were Saladin and Sultan Beybars Arbaletchik, but all attempts to take him were unsuccessful.
Markab was the last crusader fortress on the coast, so the question of its capture was constantly hanging in the air, and in 1285 the Egyptian sultan Calaune seriously approached this problem. The castle was stormed for more than a month, it all ended when the Arabs brought a dig under the tower of Tour d Eperon. Under the threat of the collapse of the tower, the hospitaliers surrendered. The surviving 25 knights, Sultan Calaun released in peace, giving rich gifts.
Spur Tower (Tour de Eperon)

Markab consists of two parts - an internal fortified castle-citadel and a fortress surrounded by a wall, there used to be a settlement. Now all the houses in it have fallen apart and are piles of stones.

Citadel view

The remains of medieval houses.

Water tank outside the castle walls.

The main and only gates of the castle.

The courtyard of the citadel.

The most powerful tower of the fortress is the dungeon, diameter is 29 meters.

View of the coast from the height of the dungeon, the total height of more than half a kilometer.

View from the dungeon to the Tour d Eperon tower.

Entrance to the castle chapel, built in the 12th century.

I could not get inside the chapel, I just rented a room through a window.

13th century frescoes preserved in the chapel, photo I borrowed from the comrade strator ,

Great Hall of Markab Castle

Hall in the adjacent to the dungeon fort.

The outer walls of the citadel.

The castle has many passageways, tunnels and spiral staircases in the walls.

The huge stove. According to the wandering knight Wilhelm of Oldenburksky, who visited Markab in 1212, the castle had reserves of provisions for 5 years. It was very problematic to take a siege of it.

In the distance you can see the coast and the city of Banyas.

The walls outside the citadel are in worse condition and overgrown with shrubs.

The Ottoman caravanserai inside the fortress is used as a television tower.

Margat, also known as Markab from the Arabic Kalaat Al-Markab, “Watchtower Castle”) is a castle near the city of Baniyas, Syria, which was a crusader fortress and one of the main strongholds of the Knights of the Order of the Hospitallers. It is located about 2 km (1.2 miles) from the Mediterranean coast and about 6 km (3.7 miles) south of Banias.

Margat is located on a hill formed by an extinct volcano at an altitude of about 360 meters (1180 feet) above sea level, on the road between Tripoli (a city in Lebanon) and Latakia, overlooking the Mediterranean Sea.

According to Arab sources, the place of the future castle of Margat was first fortified in 1062 by Muslims who continued to hold it inside the Christian principality of Antioch after the first crusade. When the principality was defeated at the Battle of Harran in 1104, the Byzantine Empire took advantage of their weakness and cleared Margat of Muslims. A few years later this territory was captured by Tancred, the prince of Galilee, the regent of Antioch, and became part of the principality.

In the 1170s, Magrat controlled Reynald II Mazor (Antioch) as a vassal of Count Tripoli. The fortress was already so large that it contained not only people of the vassal itself but also a number of valvassors (vassal vassals). The son of Raynaud Bertrand sold it to the Hospitallers in 1186, as the contents of the citadel were too burdensome for the Mazors. After some restructuring and expansion by the Hospitallers, it became their main point in Syria. Under the control of the Hospitallers, the fortress, with its fourteen towers, was considered impregnable.

In 1188, Saladin moved to Margate, leaving the Crac de Chevalier in search of easier prey. However, admitting that Margat was impregnable and that he had no hope of capturing him, he walked away. The fortress was thus one of the few remaining territories left in Christian hands after the conquests of Saladin.

By the beginning of the XIII century, the hospitaliers controlled the surrounding lands and roads and made big profits from travelers and pilgrims. The Emperor of Cyprus, Isaac Komnin, was detained in the fortress until his death, which was concluded after Richard the Lionheart captured Cyprus during the Third Crusade. Margate became the second largest and strongest of the two fortresses of the Hospitallers in the south, the first was Crac de Chevalier.

In September 1281, hospitals from Margat sent a detachment to support the Mongol invasion of Syria, which Kalaun al-Mansur, the Sultan of Egypt, successfully prevented after defeating the coalition in Homs. To retaliate against the Hospitallers, Kalaun al-Mansur secretly gathered an army in Damascus and besieged Margat on April 17, 1285. After a 38-day siege, during which sappers and miners managed to dig several tunnels under the walls of the fortress; a blast destroyed the ledge on the south wall. The defenders panicked when numerous tunnels appeared around the fortress and surrendered on May 23, Kalaun al-Mansur entered Margat two days later. Contrary to what he did with other fortresses, Calaun al-Mansur restored the fortress and placed a strong garrison there because of its strategic importance.

Margat, now known as Markab, has become a district of the Mamluk province of Tripoli. In the 15th century, the Muslim historian Khalil Al-Zahiri noted that the fortress of Markab was one of the most important sites in the province of Tripoli.

In the Ottoman era, Margat became the administrative center of the kaz ("district") of the same name. The fortress served as the residence of the kaymakamam (“military governors”) of the district until 1884, when it was not transferred to Baniyas.

Architecture

Castles in Europe were the residence of their powerful owners and acted as control centers. In the Levant, the need for defense was of paramount importance, and this was reflected in the design of the castle. Like Crac de Chevalier, Margate for the most part has a branched structure with many typical elements of a concentric castle. It has a curved entrance at the foot and a gate tower. A notable feature of internal defense is the large round tower, sometimes called the donjon (although this should not be confused with the central fortress). Unlike Crac de Chevalier, Margate has a larger open courtyard, which is why the castle has a large common area. From Wiki.