The surrounding area is fertile, benefiting from streams and abundant rainfall. To the north of the castle lies the Jebel Ansariyah, and to the south Lebanon. The route through the strategically important Homs Gap connects the cities of Tripoli and Homs. On the other side of the gap, 27 kilometres (17 mi) away, was the 12th-century Gibelacar Castle (Hisn Ibn Akkar). The castle sits atop a 650-metre-high (2,130 ft) hill east of Tartus, Syria, in the Homs Gap. Krak des Chevaliers overlooking the surrounding area. the English word chivalry derived from the French 'chevalerie'). Note that historically, Arabic speakers referred to Crusaders inaccurately as 'Franks' and 'Latins' to distinguish them from Christian Byzantines as the Crusaders called local Muslims 'Saracens.' The actual historical Franks divided their empire in 843 and at no point invaded Asia.Īfter the Knights Hospitaller took control of the castle, it became known as Crac de l'Ospital according to Guillaume-Rey's 1871 work, it was designated by chroniclers of the Crusaders as the Crac des Chevaliers (alternatively spelt Krak des Chevaliers), where Chevalier is French for ' Knight' (c.f. Crat was probably the French version of Akrād, the word for Kurds.

Crusaders) Le Crat and then by a confusion with karak (fortress), Le Crac. This derives from the name of an earlier fortification on the same site called Ḥoṣn al-Akrād ( حصن الأكراد), meaning 'fort of the Kurds'. The modern Arabic word for a castle is qalʿa ( قلعة), but Krak des Chevaliers is known as a ' ḥiṣn' ( حصن, pronounced ḥoṣn in Syrian Arabic ), or 'fort'. Reports by UNESCO and the Syrian government on the state of the site are produced yearly. Since then, reconstruction and conservation work on the site had begun. It was partially damaged in the Syrian civil war from shelling and recaptured by the Syrian government forces in 2014. Since 2006, the castles of Krak des Chevaliers and Qal'at Salah El-Din have been recognised by UNESCO as World Heritage Sites. Krak des Chevaliers is approximately 40 kilometres (25 mi) west of the city of Homs, close to the border of Lebanon, and is administratively part of the Homs Governorate. Today, a village called al-Husn exists around the castle and has a population of nearly 9,000. When Syria declared independence in 1946, it assumed control. The 500 inhabitants were moved in 1933 and the castle was given over to the French Alawite State, which carried out a program of clearing and restoration. In the late 19th or early 20th century a settlement had been created within the castle, causing damage to its fabric. Renewed interest in Crusader castles in the 19th century led to the investigation of Krak des Chevaliers, and architectural plans were drawn up. From the 1250s the fortunes of the Knights Hospitaller took a turn for the worse and in 1271 Mamluk Sultan Baibars captured Krak des Chevaliers after a siege lasting 36 days, supposedly by way of a forged letter purportedly from the Hospitallers' Grand Master that caused the Knights to surrender.

Such a large garrison allowed the Hospitallers to exact tribute from a wide area. At its peak, Krak des Chevaliers housed a garrison of around 2,000. The first half of the century has been described as Krak des Chevaliers' 'golden age'. This phase created the outer wall and gave the castle its current appearance. After a second phase of building was undertaken in the 13th century, Krak des Chevaliers became a concentric castle. Krak des Chevaliers was among the most important, and acted as a center of administration as well as a military base. The order controlled a number of castles along the border of the County of Tripoli, a state founded after the First Crusade. The Hospitallers began rebuilding the castle in the 1140s and were finished by 1170 when an earthquake damaged the castle. It remained in their possession until it fell in 1271. In 1142 it was given by Raymond II, Count of Tripoli, to the order of the Knights Hospitaller. The site was first inhabited in the 11th century by Kurdish troops garrisoned there by the Mirdasids.

'Fortress of the Kurds') and formerly Crac de l'Ospital Krak des Chevaliers or Crac des Chevaliers ( French pronunciation: ), is a medieval castle in Syria and one of the most important preserved medieval castles in the world. Krak des Chevaliers, Arabic: قلعة الحصن, romanized: Qalʿat al-Ḥiṣn also called Hisn al-Akrad ( Arabic: حصن الأكراد, romanized: Ḥiṣn al-Akrād, lit. Crac des Chevaliers and Qal’at Salah El-Din

Abandoned castle nearabric cap du blanc