Crac des Chevaliers is a world heritage and one of the most impressive medieval castles still visible today, although it was recently destroyed in the Syrian civil war.
Knight Mountain is located near the present Syrian-Lebanese border. It is located on the mountain at an altitude of 650 meters or 2 100 feet, in the so-called "Holmes Gorge". The latter is the most convenient route connecting the Crusader city Tripoli and the important Muslim city Homs at that time, only 54 miles away from Tripoli. It rules a fertile valley with abundant rainfall, which makes it doubly important, both as a fortress against invasion and as a defensive structure to protect local farmers.
103 1 year, the Kurdish emir of Hums built the first fortifications here to defend the Shia Fatimad. It is called Hussein Akrad, the castle of the Kurds. During the first Crusade, the Ramon gatherers in Toulouse were attacked by the garrison. The next day, Raymond's main force repelled the attack, briefly occupied the castle, and then continued south to Jerusalem.
Until 1 1 10, tancred, the prince of Galilee, took control of this place, and the Crusaders tried to build their own fortifications here. Although we know that some kind of castle was built at that time, it is no longer there. The castle extends from tancred to the Count of Tripoli. The exact time is not recorded.
1 144, the Count of Tripoli realized his vulnerability and limited financial resources under the attack of Saracens, and made a strategic decision, which we now call "outsourcing" most of the defense work of other countries to the Knights Hospital. He gave them four castles on the border of his county-Felici, Bosburg, Rackham and Clark Knight Castle. Knights Hospital is in a better position to build, maintain and manage these castles, because they can make use of the huge resources donated by the whole Christian world instead of relying on the income of a fragile county in the Holy Land.
Knights in the hospital took Knight Castle as the main base for the northern defense of the Crusaders, and immediately began to build a wider castle. Unfortunately, two major earthquakes, 1 157 and 1 170, seriously damaged these early buildings. However, they can rebuild successfully every time. By 1 187, when the Harding Battle disaster struck, the Knights had a castle so strong that Salah Aden didn't even try to surround it when he passed it. However, this castle is not the one we see today.
Throughout the13rd century, Knight Hospital has continuously expanded the defense and interior of Knight Rock. In its heyday, it had 2000 guards, including 60 knights, and one of the towers was designed as the residence of the hospital knight leader. It has a reservoir full of water. Especially impressive are the Knight Chapel and Knight Hall. Both are examples of Crusader architecture. In addition, the fragments of murals highlight the degree of interior decoration and high-quality craftsmanship.
However, what impresses tourists, archaeologists and historians is not the exquisite decoration inside the castle, but the powerful fortifications and harmonious and effective layout. Even thomas edward lawrence (better known as "Lawrence of Arabia") strongly criticized Crusader Castle, but he usually liked Knight Castle. He claimed that it was "the most admirable castle in the world".