← Explore on the interactive map

Krak des Chevaliers

Type Object Region Syria Time c. 1142–1271

Krak des Chevaliers in Homs Governorate, Syria, is a Hospitaller-built and expanded castle fortress complex, hailed as a peak of medieval military ar…

Timeline

  1. c. 1142–1150Ridge of Krak des Chevaliers · SyriaCount Raymond II of the Levant first built the castle on a ridge near the Homs Gap around 1142; in 1144 it passed to the Knights Hospitaller, becoming the order's core inland stronghold in Syria.
  2. 1210–1250Krak des Chevaliers · SyriaIn the early 13th century the Hospitaller added an outer curtain wall, a great tower, and vaulted halls to the existing structure, forming a concentric defense system able to hold some two to three thousand defenders, one of the strongest nodes on the Crusader line.
  3. 1271Krak des Chevaliers · SyriaIn 1271 Mamluk sultan Baybars took Krak des Chevaliers by a combination of negotiation and force, depriving the Crusaders of this inland barrier; the castle was subsequently used under the Mamluks and Ottomans, and the surviving fabric is important physical evidence for studying medieval fortress engineering.

Sources