Location: 30 km East of Latakia Map
Constructed: 10th century
Medieval citadel of Salah Ed-Din is located 30 km East of city of Latakia in Syria. It was constructed in the 10th century. Although name after a legendary Muslim leader Salah Ed-Din its foundation has nothing to do with him. He merely named it after conquering it in July 1188. The first fortifications on this strategic hill date back to the Phoenicians. It switched hands between empires. According to the legend Alexander the Great managed to take the citadel only after seeing a dream where Hercules, Greek legendary hero, told him directions to a cave where he left a club for him. The legend claims it is due to this club did Alexander managed to fight his way into the castle. Although the story is most likely made up it shows the difficulty of the terrain that made this location hard to take.
The Saladin Castle is located on the western slope of the Jebel Aansariye, a mountain range that gradually rises from the Mediterranean coast, about 30 kilometers east of Latakia. The road passes through al-Haffe 5 kilometers before; the next larger town to the east is Slinfah. The castle hill is surrounded by a protected area with pine forest.
The first castle complex already existed in the 10th century. There is documentary evidence of the conquest of the castle by the Byzantine Emperor John I Tzimiskes, who took it from the Hamdanids of Aleppo in 975. The castle was strategically located because it dominated the road from the port city of Latakia to the Oronte Valley and to Aleppo. Under the Byzantines, the castle was expanded into an important fortification. It had small round towers that protruded from the line of the ring wall. On the vulnerable east side, there were four parallel walls from one side of the castle hill to the other. In the middle of the castle hill there was a rectangular core castle with square projections made of small-format stones.
In 1108, the castle fell to the Crusaders under Tancred of Antioch,
who had expanded his territory in fierce battles. In 1119, Tancred
granted it as a fief to Robert of Sahyun, one of his high-ranking
followers. The castle became the center of an important territory.
During battles for the city of Zerdana, which was part of his
possessions, Robert was captured and executed in the same year. Atabeg
Tugtakin is said to have had his skull set in gold as a drinking bowl
(skull cup). Robert's fief was taken over by his son William, who thus
became the most important vassal of the Principality of Antioch.
The income from his territory enabled William to expand the castle
generously. While it is typical for other Crusader castles of the time
that they were built quickly and inexpensively, the Frankish complex is
a very carefully constructed castle. A large number of very skilled
workers were employed and carefully prepared boss stones were used. The
keep on the east side of the castle consists partly of exceptionally
large, well-hewn boss stones that are up to four meters long. The most
impressive part of the castle is the large moat. It was carved into the
rock over a length of 130 m, a width of 20 m and a depth of 28 m. Only a
rocky peak, which supported a bridge pillar to the east gate, was left
standing. A new wall with square towers was built on the endangered
south side. The influence of Byzantine fortress architecture can be seen
here. Towers and battlements on the walls are not connected to each
other, so they could be defended individually.
In addition to the
gate at the large moat, the castle had three other gates. The eastern
gate is protected by two flanking semicircular towers, a drawbridge and
the moat. The design of the other gates, offset moat gates, is borrowed
from Byzantine fortress architecture.
After the victory at Hattin in 1187, the Ayyubid Sultan Saladin
undertook a large-scale campaign to Lebanon and Syria in 1188. In order
to be able to take Antioch, he first laid siege to Sahyun. On July 24,
1188, he stood in front of the castle with his army and six catapults.
Two catapults were set up at the northeast corner and the other four on
the south side of the castle. On July 25, the bombardment with stone
balls began. The besieged's sorties were unsuccessful. As early as July
26, the walls began to give way. Saladin's soldiers penetrated the
castle through breaches. The Franks retreated to the upper part of the
castle. In their hopeless situation, they agreed to surrender. After
paying a ransom, the count's family was able to leave the castle. Count
Wilhelm von Sahyun himself (a descendant of the above-mentioned Wilhelm)
was brought to Damascus and executed. The reason for the rapid fall of
the mighty castle was the lack of a sufficient garrison.
Saladin
gave the castle to the family of Emir Nasir ad-Din Mankawar. Under Emir
Mankawar, the damage from the siege was repaired. The repairs can still
be seen today in the northeast corner. Other buildings from the Ayyubid
period are the remains of a bath.
In 1272, the Mamluk Sultan
Baibars took possession of the complex. In 1280, during a time of heavy
fighting against the Mongols, the Mamluk Emir Sunqur al-Achqar gained
possession of the castle and established an independent rule here. In
1287, Sultan Qalawun recaptured the castle for the Egyptian Mamluk
Empire. The surviving remains of the mosque date from Qalawun's time.