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.

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.

map of the Crusader States
Detailed map of the Crusader states at the time of maximum territorial extent. The map shows more than 600 identified medieval Crusader, Armenian and Muslim fortified sites in the Holy Land.
Sidon's Sea Castle built by the crusaders as a fortress of the Holy Land in Sidon, Lebanon.

There were two major phases of the deliberate destruction (slighting) of Crusader castles: in 1187 by Saladin and after 1260 by the Mamluks. The intention was often to prevent the castles being reused by the Crusaders.

Of the architecture built by the Crusaders, castles have received more scholarly attention than other forms, such as ecclesiastical architecture.

Crusader states

Geographic location on today's map

Crusader castles by modern states

Cyprus

Kyrenia Castle

Egypt

Greece

The Grandmasters Palace of the Knights on Rodos island
The Grandmasters Palace of the Knights on Rhodes island

Israel, Palestine and Golan Heights

The remains of Belvoir Castle
Monfort castle

Jordan

Montreal (Shaubak)
Kerak

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/31.50194°N 35.77667°E/ 31.50194; 35.77667[dubious – discuss]
  • Hisban Crusader Castle[dubious – discuss]

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.

Lebanon

Crusader castle in the village of Toron, Lebanon

Palestine

  • Castrum Sancti Helie (Castle of St. Elias) - castle ruins at Taybeh
  • Cisterna Rubea or Maldoim, Templar castle
  • Tower of David – the citadel of Jerusalem

Syria

The remains of Margat

Discarded proposals

Turkey

The ruins of Bagras Castle, viewed from the southeast
The ruins of Amouda Castle

See also

Bibliography

  • Pringle, Denys (1997). Secular Buildings in the Crusader Kingdom of Jerusalem: An Archaeological Gazetteer. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 9780521460101.