According to T.E Lawrence, this greatest of all crusader castles is “perhaps the best preserved and most wholly admirable castle in the world”.

The castle combines both European and Middle-Eastern designs making it undoubtedly one of the masterpieces of military architecture in the world. It stands 2300 ft above sea level and protects the valley between Homs and Tripoli.

The Emir of Homs in 1031 built a small fort on this site and garrisoned it with Kurdish soldiers. In 1099 the crusaders occupied it but ceded it to Tancred of Antioch.

In 1112 it was occupied by the Counts of Tripoli and relinquished to the Knights Hospitallers who occupied it until 1271.

The great Mamluk Sultan of Egypt Baybars captured the stronghold in 1271. It, then, became a Mamluk stronghold and remained in use until the early 19^th century.