Table of Contents
Salah al-den al-ayobi’s castle
Salah al-Din Castle is located in the province of Latakia in the Syrian Arab Republic, was built on a high summit overlooking the Mediterranean coast, surrounded by forests and natural scenery in a picturesque wonderful scenery, and the castle is located to the east of the city of Latakia near the city of Haffa, at an altitude of four hundred and ten meters from The surface of the sea, which is located on a rocky crest extending in a longitudinal way, and is formed in the form of an isosceles triangle with deep valley slopes on its sides.
The Salah al-Din Citadel is divided into two main parts, the eastern section which is the highest section and contains the most important fortifications, and the western part of the castle is markedly lower than the eastern section, and is located on a flat plateau that was previously connected to the rocky head on which the castle was erected, and was separated from the head when carving A trench in that rock, and Salah al-Din Castle in Syria was considered one of the most beautiful castles in the art of military architecture, in addition to its surprising and splendid views at the same time.
The castle through the ages
The castle belonged to the island of Arwad during the Greek era, and after that it was handed over to the Macedonian victor. The city where the castle was located was Siphon and it was the source of the name of Zion who was previously called the castle. History books mentioned that Seif al-Dawla al-Hamdani seized the castle and took it as a fortress for him, despite the lack of No trace of Hamdanites was found in the castle.
History books also narrate that the emperor Ibn Al-Shamaqqak worked to invade Syria in the late ninth century AD, and seized the city of Zion, after which the castle remained in the hands of the Byzantines until the Franks occupied the Syrian city of Latakia and stayed in it for more than a century and more, where they focused their fortifications in the eastern part of the castle, And houses in the western section of it.
Salah al-Din al-Ayyubi liberated the citadel from the Franks in the great campaign he went out to confront the Crusaders, and continued his confrontation with the Crusader presence in the city of Latakia for two days, then he headed to the citadel, where he entered from the northern side of the western section of the citadel due to the low slope of the valley adjacent to that section compared to The other section, and the climb from that side was easier for the castle, and the clashes flared up in the castle for two consecutive days, and was then freed from the Franks.
During the Mamluk era, Salah al-Din Ayyubid al-Ayyubi Baybars received the castle, and during the era of the Ottomans many castles were abandoned in the region, including Salah al-Din Castle during the fall of the Mamluks, so the castle remained for a number of centuries deserted, due to its remote location that drew attention from it, and remained so until it drew Some foreign travelers looked at it again, so the castle returned to its glory again, and a place of pilgrimage from all over the world.
