List of Crusader castles
This is a list of castles in the Eastern Mediterranean and Middle East, founded or occupied during the Crusades. For crusader castles in Poland and the Baltic states, see Ordensburg.
![](../I/Crac_des_chevaliers_syria.jpeg.webp)
Krak des Chevaliers was built during the 12th and 13th centuries by the Knights Hospitaller with later additions by Mamluks. It is a World Heritage Site.[1]
Crusader states
Geographic location on today's map
- Kingdom of Cyprus: Island of Cyprus (north and south)
- County of Edessa: south-east Turkey
- Principality of Antioch: north-west Syria, southern Turkey
- County of Tripoli: northern Lebanon, north-west Syria
- Kingdom of Jerusalem
- Lordship of Sidon: central Lebanon
- Principality of Galilee: northern Israel, southern Lebanon, southwest Syria
- County of Jaffa and Ascalon: southern Israel, eastern Egypt
- Lordship of Oultrejordain: south-west Jordan
Crusader castles by modern states
Cyprus
![](../I/Kyrenia_01-2017_img02_Castle_exterior.jpg.webp)
Kyrenia Castle
Egypt
Greece
- The Grandmasters Palace of the Knights Hospitaller of St. John on RhodesThe Grandmasters Palace of the Knights on Rhodes island
- Platamon Castle
- Kastellorizo Castle
- Halki Castle
- Kos Castle
- Amfissa Castle
- Leros island castle
- Corfu castles
Israel
![](../I/Belvoir_fortress.JPG.webp)
The remains of Belvoir Castle
![](../I/Monfort_Castle%252C_Upper_Galilee.jpg.webp)
Monfort castle
- Acre (Akko) – fortified city
- Aqua Bella, now Ein Hemed – Crusader fortified farm; national park
- Arsuf, also known as Arsur or Apollonia – fortified city and citadel, stronghold of the Lordship of Arsuf; national park
- Ashkelon – fortified city
- Belinas – Banias; fortified town
- Belmont – ruins of Crusader castle in Kibbutz Tzova
- Belveer – Crusader castle of which no traces remain; national park
- Belvoir Castle; Kochav HaYarden National Park
- Bet Shean – castle ruins next to ancient town, stronghold of the Lordship of Bethsan. Second castle on the tell.
- Beth Gibelin at Eleutheropolis – castle ruins next to ancient town, stronghold of the Lordship of Beth Gibelin; national park
- Beit Itab
- Bethaatap, Arabic: Bayt 'Itab – fortified manor (maison forte)
- Blanchegarde at Tell es-Safi – castle, seat of a lordship at biblical tell
- Caco or Cacho Castle, Qaqun; rebuilt by Baybars; national park
- Caesarea (Maritima), stronghold of the Lordship of Caesarea – fortified port city; national park
- Cafarlet (Hebrew: HaBonim, Arabic: Kafr Lam) – ruins of Umayyad fort reused by the Crusaders
- Calansue, Hospitaller castle
- Casal Imbert – at Achziv (formerly Az-Zeeb until 1948) – Crusader "new town" with tower; nothing discernible at present
- Casel des Plains – Azor; ruins of Crusader tower; inside town
- Castellum Beleismum – tower on biblical Tel Dothan
- Castellum Beroart – the Minat al-Qal'a Umayyad fort reused by the Crusaders; at Ashdod
- Castellum Regis; castle, now inside village of Mi'ilya
- Caymont at Tel Yokneam, seat of lordship
- Chastel Hernaut or Arnoul, Latin: Castellum Arnaldi – castle at Yalu[2][3]
- Chastel Neuf or Castellum Novum outside Margaliot, castle, rebuilt in Ottoman time (Qal'at Hunin)
- Chastelet, castle ruin by Jacob's Ford: see Battle of Jacob's Ford; also known as Vadum Iacob, le Chastelez, Ateret, Qasr al-'Atra
- Castellum Rogerii Langobardi – castle at Umm Khalid/Netaniya[2]
- Château Pèlerin, also known as Atlit Castle and Castle Pilgrim; off-reach military base
- Citadel of Safed, fortress from the Second Temple/Roman period, major administrative center.
- Destroit, Le, near Atlit
- Forbelet Castle at Taibe, Galilee; battle site near the Hospitaller castle
- Givat Titora, castle ruins
- Ibelin, near Yavne
- Jaffa, fortified port town
- Judin Castle at Khirbat Jiddin or Yehiam Fortress – Crusader castle, rebuilt in the 18th century; national park
- Latrun, castle ruins
- Kastel, on a hilltop next to Mevasseret, by the main Jerusalem Tel Aviv road
- Merle - fortified enclosure, Arabic name: Burj al-Habis and Qal'at al-Tantura,[2] at Dor/Tantura
- Mirabel, in Hebrew: Migdal Tsedek, stronghold of the Lordship of Mirabel
- Montfort; inside national park
- Qula, Crusader tower and a vaulted structure
- Ramla, stronghold of the Lordship of Ramla
- Safed, large castle on the tallest hill, rebuilt by Baybars
- Saforie, le or Sepphoris (Latin), Saffuriya (Arabic): tower; national park
- Tel Hanaton – fortified farm
- Tiberias – fortified Crusader city immediately north of abandoned city established in Roman times; on the shore of the Sea of Galilee
- Toron des Chevaliers, at Latrun
- Tour Rouge or Turris Rubea at Burgata – Arabic: Burj al-Ahmar, Hebrew: Hurvat Burgata
- Tower of David – the citadel of Jerusalem
- Turris Salinarum at Tel Taninim – Crusader tower, the only remains of the castle
Jordan
![](../I/Montreal_Castle_02.jpg.webp)
Montreal (Shaubak)
- Ajloun Castle
- Kerak Castle[4]
- Montreal
- Tafilah[5]
- Vaux Moise (Wu'ayra in Arabic) near Petra[6]
Doubtful proposals
- Aqaba – doubtful, no traces found; castle on Ile de Graye might have been meant instead
- Diban Castle 31°30′7″N 35°46′36″E
- Hisban Crusader Castle
Discarded proposals
- Jarash: the Temple of Artemis was reused as a castle by the Damascenes and destroyed by Baldwin II of Jerusalem, was therefore not used by the Crusaders.[7]
Lebanon
- Arqa
- Batroun
- Beaufort Castle
- Beirut Castle, demolished in the late 19th century
- Belhacem,[8] 33°34′24″N 35°28′36″E
- Byblos Castle
- Citadel of Raymond de Saint-Gilles
- Doubiye Castle
- Gibelacar
- Coliath
- Deir Kifa Castle
- Hasbaya Castle
- Moinetre
- Mseilha Fort
- Nephin
- Saint Louis Castle – Sidon Land Castle
- Scandelion Castle
- Sidon Sea Castle, stronghold of the Lordship of Toron
- Toron, stronghold of the Lordship of Toron
Palestine
- Castrum Sancti Helie (Castle of St. Elias) - castle ruins at Taybeh
- Cisterna Rubea or Maldoim, Templar castle
Syria
![](../I/Marqab-crusader-castle-donjon.jpg.webp)
The remains of Margat
- Areimeh Castle,[9] 34°44′40″N 36°02′33″E
- Baniyas
- Bourzey castle
- Burj al-Sabi,[10] near Adimeh, 35°09′14″N 35°55′39″E
- Chastel Blanc
- Chastel Rouge
- Krak des Chevaliers
- Maraclea
- Margat, also known as Marqab
- Masyaf Castle
- Montferrand
- Qadmous
- Rouad
- Saladdin Castle, Crusader name: Saône
- Sarmada
- Shughr-Bakas
- Citadel of Tartus and Cathedral of Our Lady of Tortosa
Discarded proposals
- Nimrod Fortress, Arabic names Qal'at Nimrud and Qal'at as-Subayba; Ayyubid castle expanded by Baibars, built to protect the road to Damascus from Crusaders and Muslim rivals; wrongly believed to be a Crusader castle.
- Qasr Bardawil, wrongly identified for a while as the Castle of al-Al
Turkey
![](../I/Baghras2.jpg.webp)
The ruins of Bagras Castle, viewed from the southeast
![](../I/HemiteKalesi1.jpg.webp)
The ruins of Amouda Castle
- Anavarza Castle
- Antioch
- Amouda
- Ayasuluk Castle, Selçuk
- Bagras
- Cursat,[11] 36°5′46″N 36°11′59″E
- Geben
- Haruniye
- Kızkalesi
- Namrun Kalesi (Lampron)
- Rumkale
- Ravendel,[12] 36°52′22″N 37°3′10″E
- Servantikar
- Silifke Castle
- Tece
- Tokmar Castle
- T‛il Hamtun
- Trapessac,[13] 36°31′53″N 36°21′52″E
- Dumlu Kalesi,[14] 37°9′1″N 35°42′5″E
- Yaka Castle
References
![](../I/Commons-logo.svg.png.webp)
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Crusader castles.
- Crac des Chevaliers and Qal'at Salah El-Din, UNESCO, retrieved 2010-11-08
- Ellenblum, Ronnie (2007). Crusader Castles and Modern Histories. Cambridge University Press. p. 173. ISBN 9781139462556. Retrieved 7 June 2020.
- Pringle 1997, p. 107.
- Husseini, Rana (December 18, 2016). "Death toll in Karak attacks rises to 14, including four terrorists". Jordan Times. Retrieved 19 December 2016.
- Pringle 1997, p. 98.
- Pringle 1997, p. 105.
- Pringle 1997, p. 2.
- Belhacem
- "Qalaat Areimeh | Monuments of Syria أوابد سورية". monumentsofsyria.com.
- "Burj al-Sabi".
- "Castles.nl - Cursat Castle". www.castles.nl.
- Ravanda Castle
- Trapesac castle
- Tumlu
Bibliography
- Pringle, Denys (1997). Secular Buildings in the Crusader Kingdom of Jerusalem: An Archaeological Gazetteer. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 9780521460101.
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