Syria
Crac des Chevaliers
Crac des Chevaliers and Qal'at Salah El-Din are the most significant remaining Crusader fortresses.
Crac des Chevaliers ("fortress of the knights") was the headquarters of the Knights Hospitaller in Syria during the Crusades and is seen as an archetype of a medieval castle as the military orders built them. Both castles are located on high ridges, which are key defensive positions. The castles also retain features of earlier Byzantine and later Islamic periods, thus showing the evolution of fortified architecture in this region.
Community Perspective: Squiffy stated: “Lawrence of Arabia called Crac des Chevaliers ‘the finest castle in the world’. I have yet to see a castle to convince me otherwise.” Solivagant found its skyline and isolated location incomparable. Triath has described its condition after the Syrian Civil War, in 2023.
Site Info
Official Information
- Full Name
- Crac des Chevaliers and Qal'at Salah El-Din (ID: 1229)
- Country
- Syria
- Status
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Inscribed 2006
Site history
History of Crac des Chevaliers
- 2006: Inscribed
- Inscribed
- 2013: In Danger
- Together with all 5 other Syrian WHS, due to Civil War
- In Danger
- Together with all 5 other Syrian WHS, due to Civil War Since 2013
- WHS Type
- Cultural
- Criteria
- ii
- iv
Links
- UNESCO
- whc.unesco.org
All Links
UNESCO.org
- whc.unesco.org — whc.unesco.org/
Related Resources
- homsonline.com — Homs Online
- en.wikipedia.org — Wiki on Citadel of Salah Ed-Din
- en.wikipedia.org — Wiki on Krak des Chevaliers
News Article
- April 8, 2025 inkstickmedia.com — A Crusader Castle in Syria Tells its Own War Stories
- March 16, 2023 france24.com — Syrian castle among quake-hit ancient sites at risk
- Sept. 23, 2022 washingtonpost.com — A new role for Syria’s heritage sites: Party venues for restless youth
- March 22, 2014 huffingtonpost.com — Crac Des Chevaliers Citadel Captured By Government Troops
- March 3, 2014 syriadirect.org — Continuing air raids have destroyed large part of Crac des Chevaliers
- July 13, 2013 english.alarabiya.net — An air raid has damaged Krak des Chevaliers
- May 3, 2012 emirates247.com — Syrian heritage sites damaged
Community Information
- Community Category
- Secular structure: Military and Fortifications
Travel Information
Red Zone Travel Advisory
Recent Connections
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Perfect Inscriptions
2006 -
Red Zone Travel Advisory
Syria fully off-limits -
Untranslated Toponyms
The word "Crac" or "Krak" is derived fr…
Connections of Crac des Chevaliers
- Individual People
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Ibn Battuta
"From Tripoli I went inland, via Hisn al-Akrad [Crac des Chevaliers] and Hims, to the town of Hamah." -
Gertrude Bell
Photo taken March 1905 -
Alexander the Great
Wiki describes the legend of how, around 334BC (and supposedly assisted by Hercules!), Alexander the Great captured the castle then existing on the site of the structure now known as Qal'at Salah ad-DinSee en.wikipedia.org
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Saladin
The 2nd castle making up this site is called Qal?at Salah El-Din. The AB evaluation states "..the Fortress of Sayun (Ch?teau de Sa?ne) was renamed Fortress of Saladin in 1957 to honour the sultan who conquered it in 1188". The earlier name arose because, although the castle dates back to ancient times, "It then fell in the hands of the Crusaders at around the beginning of the 12th century. It is mentioned that in 1119 it was owned by Robert of Saone" -
Lawrence of Arabia
VisitedSee www.flat3.co.uk
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Baibars
In 1271 the fortress was captured by Mamluk Sultan Baibars on April 8 with the aid of heavy trebuchets and mangonels (wiki)
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- Trivia
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Built or owned by French
Captured by Raymond IV of Toulouse and Tancred, Prince of Galilee (during the Crusades)
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- History
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Sieges and Battles
"In 1163 the fortress was unsuccessfully besieged by Nur ad-Din Zengi, ... Saladin unsuccessfully besieged the castle in 1188. " (wiki) -
Byzantine Empire and Civilization
the evolution of fortified architecture in the Near East during the Byzantine, Crusader and Islamic periods (OUV) -
Phoenician world
Qal'at Salah El-Din -
The Crusades
The Krak des Chevaliers played a pivotal and multifaceted role during the Crusades, serving as one of the most formidable and important Crusader fortresses in the Holy Land.See en.wikipedia.org
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Knights Hospitaller
Was the Knights Hospitaller HQ during the Cruusades and was expanded between 1150-1250 and eventually housed a garrison of 2000.
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- Architecture
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Gothic
"The buildings in the inner ward were rebuilt by the Hospitallers in a Gothic style." (wiki)
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- Damaged
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Damaged in War since WWII
Syrian Civil War. "By October 2013, numerous craters appeared at Crac de Chevaliars, including one on the south turret's roof.The AAAS report describes moderate structural damage to the castle, including to its southeast tower and three visible craters to the northern part of the castle."See www.bbc.co.uk
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- World Heritage Process
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Perfect Inscriptions
2006
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- Religion and Belief
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Notable mosques
mosque built by Sultan Qalaun at Fortress of Saladin
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- Constructions
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Windmills
One of its towers is supposed to have had a windmillSee books.google.nl
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Gates depicting Lions
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- WHS on Other Lists
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World Monuments Watch (past)
Cultural Heritage Sites of Syria (2014)See www.wmf.org
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- Timeline
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Built in the 12th century
The Crac des Chevaliers was built by the Hospitaller Order of Saint John of Jerusalem from 1142 to 1271
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- Science and Technology
- Visiting conditions
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Red Zone Travel Advisory
Syria fully off-limits
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- WHS Names
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Untranslated Toponyms
The word "Crac" or "Krak" is derived from "karak", the Old Syriac word for “fortress” and as used by Crusaders for several of their Castles. The nearby "Qal'at Salah El-Din" uses the Arabic equivalent - "Qalat or kalata (قلعه) in Persian,[1] and qal'a(-t) or qil'a(-t) (قلعہ, قلعة) in Arabic, means 'fortress', 'fortification', 'castle',[ or simply 'fortified place'.
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News
- inkstickmedia.com 04/08/2025
- A Crusader Castle in Syria Tells i…
- france24.com 03/16/2023
- Syrian castle among quake-hit anci…
- washingtonpost.com 09/23/2022
- A new role for Syria’s heritage si…
Recent Visitors
Visitors of Crac des Chevaliers
- Adrian Turtschi
- Alexander Barabanov
- Alexander Lehmann
- Ali Zingstra
- Ammon Watkins
- Andrew Wembridge
- Argo
- Artur Anuszewski
- Ask Gudmundsen
- Aspasia
- Atila Ege
- Axel Fries
- bergecn
- Bill Maurmann
- Christian Wagner
- Dani Cyr
- Delphine Delaunay
- Dimitrios Polychronopoulos
- Dutchnick
- Eric Lurio
- Erik Jelinek
- Eva Kisgyorgy
- Fan Yibo
- Fernweh
- Fmaiolo@yahoo.com
- Frank Britton
- Gernot
- ge zhang
- Hanming
- Harry Mitsidis
- henryjiao18
- IC
- Janos
- Jarek Pokrzywnicki
- Jonas Hagung
- Jon Opol
- Jose
- Joyce van Soest
- Juropa
- Knut
- Krijn
- Lameduck99
- liu tuo
- liverpool1023
- Loic Pedras
- Longdutch
- Lucio Gorla
- Luis Filipe Gaspar
- Malgorzata Kopczynska
- marcel staron
- Marcobrey
- Michael Novins
- michaelsballard
- Mikko
- Milan Jirasek
- Miloš Tašković
- MMM
- Morodhi
- Nihal Ege
- Pascal Cauliez
- Persian Globetrotter
- Peter Day
- Philipp Leu
- Pieter Dijkshoorn
- Piotr Wasil
- pressdm
- Riomussafer
- Roger Ourset
- Roman Raab
- SaoDies
- Sascha Grabow
- SHIHE HUANG
- Socon
- Solivagant
- Squiffy
- Stanislaw Warwas
- Szabolcs Mosonyi
- Szucs Tamas
- Thomas Buechler
- Timothy C Easton
- Tom Allen
- triath
- Truls Brekke
- Werner Huber
- Westwards
- Wolfgang Sander
- Yellowjohn
Community Reviews
Show full reviews
Visited on a group tour to Syria in April 2023.
Perhaps the most famous castle of the Crusaders, built by the Order of Hospitallers to protect the pilgrims' routes to the Holy Land. The line of fortifications was so serious that even Saladin's troops could not take it by force.
Only in the Mamluk time Baybars managed to capture the castle by deception, when the power of the order was already in decline.
The castle was restored during the French mandate, but during the civil war Jihadists settled here, who had to be driven out of the castle with the help of Russian aircraft. The destroyed tower has already been restored by Hungarian historians, and only in the inner courtyard, at the foot of the dungeon, by tower of the Grand Master of the Hospitallers, is a gaping hole from a Russian bomb.
For the first time I saw a plaque with the UNESCO logo riddled with bullets.

I squeezed my way out of the tiny van. The last section of the cramped ride had been the worst, with the van straining in first gear up a seemingly never-ending hill. I was glad to escape the airless interior and stretch my legs. A cooling breeze blew up from the lowlands below, bringing the scent of dry herbs and the clonking of goat bells. And across the valley, ruddy in the evening sun, the most magnificent castle I had ever seen stood.
Of the two castles named in this inscription (Crac des Chevaliers and Qal’at Salah El-Din) I have only visited the first. I’m not sure how much I can add to the understanding of this place. Lawrence of Arabia called Crac des Chavaliers “the finest castle in the world”. I have yet to see a castle to convince me otherwise.
First, the historical basics. It’s a great spot on a tongue of land protruding from the southern end of the Jebel Ansariyya hills. Below lies the traversable Homs Gap. And across that rises the Anti-Lebanon range. A perfect spot for a chokepoint. The Crusaders seized the area at the start of the 12th century during the First Crusade. Raymond II, Count of the Crusander County of Tripoli, granted the area to the Knights Hospitaller in 1142. They then spent the next 30 years perfecting the very embodiment of a classic medieval castle. It was known as ‘Crac de l’Ospital’, after this particular order of knights …
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Some practical up-to-dated additions:
I have visited also both places in October 2010. The easiest way to get to Crac is by minibus from Homs (check the latest but they should depart from main city bus station, normal place costs 50 SYP (but this counts when car is full), we paid (ad hoc group) 150 SYP each which is still not bad (around 3-4 usd). On a way back - just take any of awaitng buses - they gather just outside the main gate. If you wait for a while you should pay around normal price (50 SYP per person). The best view of the castle itself is from the nearby hill just follow the road from the main gate. There is a possibility to leave the luggage by the ticket office at the castle's entrance.
To get to Saladin's Castle: it is good to arrange a normal minibus from Lattakia (from the place close to main bus station), if you are with a group after some negotiations the driver should take you directly to the castle (price for both way should be around 1000-1200 SYP), if you are a good negotiator it may be less. Saladin's Castle (Kalat Salah ad-Din) looks to be less touristic (photo attached were taken from the upper part of fortress to the courtyard and Master Tower).
For both places there is also a possibility to arrange a taxi, prices are much bigger (but still acceptable I guess) or a package tour …
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Crac des Chevaliers meets my idealised vision of “Medieval Castle” more than any other I know of. Its skyline and isolated location are incomparable and it is a worthy addition to a list which is already overfull of (often more average!) military structures.
The inscription also includes another of Syria’s many castles left over from the period of the Crusades - Qal’at Salah El-Din (Saladin’s Castle). In fact it was only given this name in 1957 to honour the sultan who conquered it in 1188 (Previously it was the “Fortress of Sayun” or “Chateau de Saône”). This perhaps highlights the tensions in how Arabs view Crusader castles – even the names are often associated with the European invaders! In fact the history of their design and use is rather more complicated. To get over the problem the ICOMOS evaluation rather piously states “The stones of these castles, which testify to the confrontation of two different conceptions, two different religious traditions, are now testimony to coexistence, exchange and interaction, a place for peace and culture, a monument for human genius”. Well – possibly/hopefully!!
We visited both castles in 1999. Crac is the better preserved and has plenty of dark rooms and corridors to explore. However to a non-specialist in military fortifications the outside views of the castle are the more impressive – though the views of the surrounding mountains from the ramparts are also very fine and emphasise its wonderful defensive location. The walls of Saladin’s Citadel spread further but there …
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