A Crusader castle on a 650-metre hill near Homs, rebuilt by the Knights Hospitaller between 1142 and 1170 over a Kurdish garrison fort of 1031, and extended in the thirteenth century into the concentric double-walled design that made it famous. At its height around 2,000 soldiers were quartered here, enough to tax the country around it. T. E. Lawrence called it perhaps the best preserved and most wholly admirable castle in the world. It never fell to assault. On 8 April 1271, after a 36-day siege, Sultan Baibars took it because the garrison surrendered on the strength of a letter they believed came from their Grand Master authorising it, and the letter was forged. UNESCO listed it in 2006. It was shelled and bombed between 2012 and 2014 during the civil war and reconstruction is ongoing; Syria carries severe travel advisories and this is here as a record.
Homs Governorate, Syria
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