Krak des Chevaliers

Also known as Crac des Chevaliers, Hisn al-Akrad, Castle of the Kurds, Qal'at al-Hisn

The greatest of the Hospitaller castles and the most complete Crusader fortress to survive anywhere in the world. The Knights Hospitaller received the site in 1142 from Raymond II of Tripoli and rebuilt the earlier Kurdish fort into a colossal concentric stronghold of two circuits of walls, with a sloping talus, vaulted halls, a great Gothic loggia, and quarters for a garrison of perhaps two thousand men. Saladin probed it in 1188 and decided it was not worth besieging. It survived almost every assault for 130 years — including damage from the great earthquakes of 1170 and 1202 — but in March 1271 the Mamluk sultan Baybars finally invested it. After a month of mining and bombardment he forged a letter from the Hospitaller grand master ordering the garrison to surrender; on 8 April the knights marched out under safe conduct, and the castle passed permanently into Mamluk hands. T. E. Lawrence called it 'the best preserved and most wholly admirable castle in the world.'

Coordinates: 34.7569°, 36.2944°

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