On the way towards our final destination, Tartous, we stop at The Castle of the Knights. The Castle of the Knights (also known as the Castle of the Kurds or Hospitailers or Le Krak des Chevaliers, is one of the best medieval monuments in Syria. It is located 65 km west of Homs and 75 km south-east of Tartous. It is 650 meters above sea-level. It was built in order to control the so called Homs Gap,the gate-way to Syria. It was through this passage that Syria communicated with the Mediterranean in those days. The corridor was of strategic importance in those days. It was crucial to the Crusaders and other foreign invaders in their conquest of the coast. Conflict over the Crac des Chevaliers continued through the ages. It was a fierce and bloody dispute, but in the en, Sultan Beybars managed to recover it in 1271 through a military trick and one month of fighting.
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Crac des Chevaliers was built on the site of a former castle erected by the emirs of Homs to accommodate Kurdish garrisons; 'Crac' is a modification of the Arab word 'Qal'a'. The citadel covers an area of 3000 sq m and has 13 huge towers, in addition to many stores, tanks, corridors, bridges and stables. Just try and imagine the sheer size of the castle that it could accommodate 5000 soldiers with their horses, their equipment and provisions to last for five years in those days. Perched on a hill top, the road leading to the castle is very narrow and winding and one would have to be careful to manouver it. One memorable experience is at a stretch of road on the way up where there is a strong magnetic field and if one were to free the gear, the car will just slide upwards due to the magnetic pull (short distant though).
There was a large crowd of foreign tourists - French, Germans, British and Japanese listening attentively to the tour guides explaining the history of the castle. We manage to explore the whole castle with the assistance of our guide in slightly less than an hour and we head towards our last destination, Tartous.
There was a large crowd of foreign tourists - French, Germans, British and Japanese listening attentively to the tour guides explaining the history of the castle. We manage to explore the whole castle with the assistance of our guide in slightly less than an hour and we head towards our last destination, Tartous.
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