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English:
Krak Des Chevaliers.
Arabic:
العربية: حصن الأك راد أو قلعة
الحصن كاشفةً مُروج وتلال بلاد حِمص وأعمالها
Français:
Le Krak des Chevaliers.
Photo: 11 October 2011.
Source:
This File is licensed under the
2.0 Generic licence.
Author:
(Wikimedia Commons)
Krak Des Chevaliers.
Greatest Crusader Castle In History.
Available on YouTube
Text is from Wikipedia - the free encyclopædia,
unless stated otherwise.
Krak des Chevaliers is a Mediæval Castle in Syria and one of the most important preserved Mediæval Castles in the World.
The site was first inhabited in the 11th-Century by Kurdish troops garrisoned there by the Mirdasids.
In 1142, it was given by Raymond II, Count of Tripoli, to the Order of The Knights Hospitaller. It remained occupied by them until it was reconquered by the Muslims in 1271.
English:
Artist’s rendering of Krak des Chevaliers.
Date: 11 August 1871.
Source:
Guillaume Rey: Étude sur les monuments de l’architecture militaire des croisés en Syrie et dans l’île de Chypre (1871).
Author: Guillaume Rey.
(Wikimedia Commons)
The Order of The Knights Hospitaller controlled Castles along the border of the County of Tripoli, a State Founded after the First Crusade.
Krak des Chevaliers was among the most important of these Castles and acted as a Centre of Administration as well as a Military Base.
The area between the Inner and Outer Walls
is narrow and was not used for accommodation.
Date: Circa 1980.
Source: Own work.
Author: M. Benoist (fr:wikipedia).
This File is licensed under the
Share Alike 3.0 Unported licence.
(Wikimedia Commons)
After a second phase of building was undertaken in the 13th-Century, Krak des Chevaliers became a Concentric Castle. This phase of building created the Outer Wall and gave the Castle its current appearance.
The first half of the Century has been described as Krak des Chevaliers’ “Golden Age”. At its peak, Krak des Chevaliers housed a Garrison of around 2,000 Soldiers.
Such a large Garrison allowed The Hospitallers to exact tribute from a wide area.
East End of the Castle’s Barrel-Vaulted Chapel.
Date: 6 July 2010.
Source: Own work.
This File is licensed under the
Creative Commons Attribution-
Share Alike 3.0 Unported, 2.5 Generic,
2.0 Generic and 1.0 Generic licence.
Author: Bgag
(Wikimedia Commons)
Renewed interest in Crusader Castles in the 19th-Century led to the investigation of Krak des Chevaliers, and architectural plans were drawn up.
In the Late-19th-Century, or Early-20th-Century, a public settlement had been created within the Castle, causing damage to its fabric.
English:
Latin inscription in Krak Des Chevaliers.
It translates:
“You may have bounty;
“You may have wisdom;
“You may be granted beauty;
“Pride alone defiles all
these things if it accompanies them”.
Français:
Inscription latine sur le mur
de la cours au Krak des chevaliers.
Date: August 1981.
Source: Own work.
This File is licensed under the
Share Alike 3.0 Unported licence.
Author: Michel Benoist
(Wikimedia Commons)
Today, the village of al-Husn exists around the Castle and has a population of nearly 9,000. Krak des Chevaliers is approximately forty kilometres (twenty-five miles) West of the City of Homs, close to the border of Lebanon, and is administratively part of the Homs Governorate.
Since 2006, the Castles of Krak des Chevaliers and Qal'at Salah El-Din have been recognised by UNESCO as World Heritage Sites.[1]
It was partially damaged in the Syrian Civil War from shelling and recaptured by Syrian government forces in 2014.
Since then, reconstruction and conservation work on the site has begun. Reports by UNESCO and the Syrian government on the state of the site are produced yearly.[2]
