The Finest Crusader Castle - Crac de Chevaliers
Crac (also Krak) de Chevaliers is arguably the most famous and most iconic of all remaining crusader castles. It is a World Heritage Site and one of the most impressive medieval castles still visible today, despite recent damage in the Syrian civil war. It seemed the fitting end to my short series on crusader castles. Copyright: Creative Commons by 2.0 Crac de Chevaliers is located in what is now Syria near the Lebanese border. It sits at an elevation of 650 meters or 2,100 feet, atop a hill in the so-called “Homs Gap.” The latter is the most accessible route between the crusader city of Tripoli and the then important Muslim city of Homs, just 54 miles away. It dominates a fertile valley with abundant rainfall (for the region), which gave it double importance as a bulwark against invasion and a defensive structure to protect the local farmers. The first fortification on this site was constructed in 1131 by the Kurdish Emir of Homs as a defense against the Shiite Fatimids. It...