Sahyun Castle ( ar, قلعة صهيون), also known as the Castle of Saladin ( ar, قلعة صلاح الدين, Qal'at Salah al-Din), is a medieval castle in northwestern
Syria. It is located 7 km east of
Al-Haffah
Al-Haffah ( ar, ٱلْحَفَّة, al-Ḥaffah) is a town in northwestern Syria administratively belonging to the Latakia Governorate, located east of Latakia. It is the centre of al-Haffah District, one of the four districts ('' mantiqah'') of ...
town and 30 km east of the city of
Latakia, in high mountainous terrain on a ridge between two deep ravines and
surrounded by forest, the site has been fortified since at least the mid 10th century. In 975 the
Byzantine
The Byzantine Empire, also referred to as the Eastern Roman Empire or Byzantium, was the continuation of the Roman Empire primarily in its eastern provinces during Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, when its capital city was Constantinopl ...
Emperor
John I Tzimiskes captured the site and it remained under Byzantine control until around 1108. Early in the 12th century the
Franks
The Franks ( la, Franci or ) were a group of Germanic peoples whose name was first mentioned in 3rd-century Roman sources, and associated with tribes between the Lower Rhine and the Ems River, on the edge of the Roman Empire.H. Schutz: Tools, ...
assumed control of the site and it was part of the newly formed
Crusader state
The Crusader States, also known as Outremer, were four Catholic realms in the Middle East that lasted from 1098 to 1291. These feudal polities were created by the Latin Catholic leaders of the First Crusade through conquest and political in ...
of the
Principality of Antioch
The Principality of Antioch was one of the crusader states created during the First Crusade which included parts of modern-day Turkey and Syria. The principality was much smaller than the County of Edessa or the Kingdom of Jerusalem. It exte ...
. The Crusaders undertook an extensive building programme, giving the castle much of its current appearance. In 1188 it fell to the forces of
Saladin
Yusuf ibn Ayyub ibn Shadi () ( – 4 March 1193), commonly known by the epithet Saladin,, ; ku, سهلاحهدین, ; was the founder of the Ayyubid dynasty. Hailing from an ethnic Kurdish family, he was the first of both Egypt and ...
after a three-day siege.
The castle was again besieged in 1287, this time both defender and belligerent were Mamluks. In 2006, the castles of Qal'at Salah El-Din and Krak des Chevaliers were recognised as a
World Heritage Site
A World Heritage Site is a landmark or area with legal protection by an international convention administered by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). World Heritage Sites are designated by UNESCO for h ...
by
UNESCO
The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) aimed at promoting world peace and security through international cooperation in education, arts, sciences and culture. It ...
. The site is owned by the Syrian government.
Location and name
The castle is located roughly northeast of
Latakia.
The castle is close to the town of
al-Haffah
Al-Haffah ( ar, ٱلْحَفَّة, al-Ḥaffah) is a town in northwestern Syria administratively belonging to the Latakia Governorate, located east of Latakia. It is the centre of al-Haffah District, one of the four districts ('' mantiqah'') of ...
.
The traditional name of the site is ''Ṣahyūn'', the
Arabic
Arabic (, ' ; , ' or ) is a Semitic language spoken primarily across the Arab world.Semitic languages: an international handbook / edited by Stefan Weninger; in collaboration with Geoffrey Khan, Michael P. Streck, Janet C. E.Watson; Walter ...
equivalent of
Zion
Zion ( he, צִיּוֹן ''Ṣīyyōn'', LXX , also variously transliterated ''Sion'', ''Tzion'', ''Tsion'', ''Tsiyyon'') is a placename in the Hebrew Bible used as a synonym for Jerusalem as well as for the Land of Israel as a whole (see Nam ...
. This, according to historian
Hugh N. Kennedy
Hugh Nigel Kennedy (born 22 October 1947) is a British medieval historian and academic. He specialises in the history of the early Islamic Middle East, Muslim Iberia and the Crusades. From 1997 to 2007, he was Professor of Middle Eastern Histor ...
, is why it has now been given the more politically correct title of ''Qalʿat Ṣalāḥ al-Dīn'', meaning "Saladin's Castle". The
Byzantine
The Byzantine Empire, also referred to as the Eastern Roman Empire or Byzantium, was the continuation of the Roman Empire primarily in its eastern provinces during Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, when its capital city was Constantinopl ...
s referred to it as ''Sigon'' and their Frankish successors called it ''Saône''.
History
![Saladinsburg 12](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/65/Saladinsburg_12.jpg)
The site has been fortified since at least the mid-10th century, and its first known occupant was a dependent of the
Aleppo-based
Hamdanid
The Hamdanid dynasty ( ar, الحمدانيون, al-Ḥamdāniyyūn) was a Twelver Shia Arab dynasty of Northern Mesopotamia and Syria (890–1004). They descended from the ancient Banu Taghlib Christian tribe of Mesopotamia and Eastern ...
emir,
Sayf al-Dawla
ʿAlī ibn ʾAbū l-Hayjāʾ ʿAbdallāh ibn Ḥamdān ibn al-Ḥārith al-Taghlibī ( ar, علي بن أبو الهيجاء عبد الله بن حمدان بن الحارث التغلبي, 22 June 916 – 9 February 967), more commonly known ...
.
The Byzantine emperor
John I Tzimiskes captured Sahyun in 975 from its Hamdanid ruler,
and it remained under Byzantine control until around 1108 when the
Crusaders
The Crusades were a series of religious wars initiated, supported, and sometimes directed by the Latin Church in the medieval period. The best known of these Crusades are those to the Holy Land in the period between 1095 and 1291 that were in ...
took control of Latakia, at which point it is likely they also took possession of Sahyun.
It was part of the
Principality of Antioch
The Principality of Antioch was one of the crusader states created during the First Crusade which included parts of modern-day Turkey and Syria. The principality was much smaller than the County of Edessa or the Kingdom of Jerusalem. It exte ...
, one of the four
Crusader state
The Crusader States, also known as Outremer, were four Catholic realms in the Middle East that lasted from 1098 to 1291. These feudal polities were created by the Latin Catholic leaders of the First Crusade through conquest and political in ...
s established after the
First Crusade
The First Crusade (1096–1099) was the first of a series of religious wars, or Crusades, initiated, supported and at times directed by the Latin Church in the medieval period. The objective was the recovery of the Holy Land from Islamic r ...
. The lords of Sahyun were among the most powerful in Antioch. The first lord of Sahyun was probably
Robert the Leper
Robert fitz-Fulk the Leper, also known as Robert Fulcoy, Robert the Leprous, or Robert of Saone (died in August 1119), was a powerful baron in the Principality of Antioch.
Early career
Walter the Chancellor's contemporaneous chronicle is one o ...
,
[ who is recorded in control of it since at least 1119.] Sahyun remained in his family until 1188. It was most likely Robert or his son, William of Zardana
William of Zardana, also known as William of Saone (died in 1132 or 1133), was a powerful baron who held Balatanos, Saone and Zardana in the Principality of Antioch. After his father, Robert the Leper, was executed by the atabeg (or governor) o ...
, who built the Crusader castle around the previous Byzantine fortifications.[ Most of what is evident today was built at this time. The fortress was notable as being one of the few which were not entrusted to the major military orders of the ]Hospitaller
The Order of Knights of the Hospital of Saint John of Jerusalem ( la, Ordo Fratrum Hospitalis Sancti Ioannis Hierosolymitani), commonly known as the Knights Hospitaller (), was a medieval and early modern Catholic military order. It was headq ...
and the Templars
, colors = White mantle with a red cross
, colors_label = Attire
, march =
, mascot = Two knights riding a single horse
, equipment ...
.
On 27 July 1188, the Ayyubid sultan Saladin
Yusuf ibn Ayyub ibn Shadi () ( – 4 March 1193), commonly known by the epithet Saladin,, ; ku, سهلاحهدین, ; was the founder of the Ayyubid dynasty. Hailing from an ethnic Kurdish family, he was the first of both Egypt and ...
and his son, az-Zahir Ghazi
Al-Malik az-Zahir Ghiyath ud-din Ghazi ibn Yusuf ibn Ayyub (commonly known as az-Zahir Ghazi; 1172 – 8 October 1216) was the Ayyubid emir of Aleppo between 1186 and 1216. , arrived at Sahyun with an army and laid siege to the castle. The Muslim forces adopted two positions outside the castle: Saladin established himself with his siege engine
A siege engine is a device that is designed to break or circumvent heavy castle doors, thick city walls and other fortifications in siege warfare. Some are immobile, constructed in place to attack enemy fortifications from a distance, while oth ...
s on the plateau opposite the castle's east side while his son was set up facing the north of the castle's lower enclosure. Stones weighing between hurled at the castle for two days, causing significant damage. On 29 July, the order to attack was given. Az-Zahir assaulted the castle town adjoining the castle's west, and the inhabitants sought refuge in the castle. The castle and town were supposed to be separated by a ditch, however at the north end the digging remained unfinished. Exploiting this, Az-Zahir successfully stormed the castle walls. The inner courtyard was overrun and the garrison retreated to the donjon
A keep (from the Middle English ''kype'') is a type of fortified tower built within castles during the Middle Ages by European nobility. Scholars have debated the scope of the word ''keep'', but usually consider it to refer to large towers in ...
or keep. Before the day ended they agreed terms with their attackers and were allowed to ransom themselves. Though Sahyun was a strong castle, it fell in just three days. Kennedy speculates that, despite being well-provisioned, the fortress may have surrendered been because its garrison was not large enough or possessed siege engines.
Saladin granted Sahyun and Bourzey to one of his emir
Emir (; ar, أمير ' ), sometimes transliterated amir, amier, or ameer, is a word of Arabic origin that can refer to a male monarch, aristocrat, holder of high-ranking military or political office, or other person possessing actual or cer ...
s, Mankawar (also known as "Mankurus ibn Khumartigin"). The pair descended through the latter's heirs until 1272 when Sahyun was given to the Mamluk
Mamluk ( ar, مملوك, mamlūk (singular), , ''mamālīk'' (plural), translated as "one who is owned", meaning " slave", also transliterated as ''Mameluke'', ''mamluq'', ''mamluke'', ''mameluk'', ''mameluke'', ''mamaluke'', or ''marmeluke'') ...
sultan Baibars. Some time in the 1280s, the dissident Mamluk emir Sunqur al-Ashqar Shams al-Din Sunqur al-Ashqar al-Salihi ( ar, شمس الدين سنقر الأشقر الصالحي) was the Mamluk viceroy of Damascus in 1279–1280, who attempted to rule Syria independently, in a rebellion against the Egypt-based sultan Qalawun ...
used the castle for refuge from Sultan Qalawun
( ar, قلاوون الصالحي, – November 10, 1290) was the seventh Bahri Mamluk sultan; he ruled Egypt from 1279 to 1290.
He was called (, "Qalāwūn the Victorious").
Biography and rise to power
Qalawun was a Kipchak, ancient Turki ...
. Under Sunqur, the castle became the administrative center of a small semi-independent emirate. In late 1286 and early 1287, Qalawun set out to repress his rivals which including curtailing Sunqur's independence. To this end the sultan sent an army under the command of Turuntay to establish a siege at Sahyun. Turuntay sent a message to Sunqur, saying that if he surrendered the sultan would pardon him; Sunqur refused and so the siege began. It soon became apparent that Sunqur's men could not hold the castle, and so in April he surrendered.
Afterward, Sahyun was made part of the province of Tripoli
Tripoli or Tripolis may refer to:
Cities and other geographic units Greece
*Tripoli, Greece, the capital of Arcadia, Greece
* Tripolis (region of Arcadia), a district in ancient Arcadia, Greece
* Tripolis (Larisaia), an ancient Greek city in ...
. The castle remained significant and prosperous under the Mamluks until at least the late 14th century. The emir of Hama, Abu'l-Fida (r. 1273–1331), noted that a town was established adjacent to Sahyun. In later decades, however, Sahyun was abandoned.
After the Ottoman conquest in Syria, Sahyun became an Ottoman fortress. A 16th century Chinese text's description of a "city with two walls" between Tartus and Aleppo seems to match the citadel Sahyun.
In early 20th century, T. E. Lawrence
Thomas Edward Lawrence (16 August 1888 – 19 May 1935) was a British archaeologist, army officer, diplomat, and writer who became renowned for his role in the Arab Revolt (1916–1918) and the Sinai and Palestine Campaign (1915–1918 ...
visited the castle, and describe it as "the most sensational thing in castle building I have ever seen."
The citadel was made a World Heritage Site
A World Heritage Site is a landmark or area with legal protection by an international convention administered by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). World Heritage Sites are designated by UNESCO for h ...
by UNESCO
The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) aimed at promoting world peace and security through international cooperation in education, arts, sciences and culture. It ...
, along with Krak des Chevaliers
Krak des Chevaliers, ar, قلعة الحصن, Qalʿat al-Ḥiṣn also called Hisn al-Akrad ( ar, حصن الأكراد, Ḥiṣn al-Akrād, rtl=yes, ) and formerly Crac de l'Ospital; Krak des Chevaliers or Crac des Chevaliers (), is a medieva ...
, in 2006. During the Syrian uprising which began in 2011 UNESCO voiced concerns that the conflict might lead to the damage of important cultural sites such as Citadel of Salah Ed-Din. As of 2016 the castle survived the Syrian Civil War without any significant damage.
Overview
Sahyun was built on a ridge some long between two deep gorges.[ It guarded the route between Latakia and the city of Antioch. The spur on which the castle is built is connected to a plateau in the east. The Byzantines defended the site by building a wall across the east side of the ridge. The walls created an irregular enclosure and were studded with flanking towers. Adjacent to the fortification, at the eastern end of the ridge was a settlement.][ One of the most magnificent features of the fortress is the 28 m deep ditch, which was cut into living rock. The creation of the ditch has been attributed to the Byzantines.] This ditch, which runs 156 meters along the east side, is 14 to 20 meters wide and has a lonely 28 m high needle to support the drawbridge.
The entrance to the castle is through an entrance on the south side of the fortress. On the right of the entrance is a tower, a bastion built by the Crusaders. There is another a few meters further. There is a cistern for water storage and some stables just next to a massive keep that overlooks the ditch. This keep has walls of 5 m thick and it covers an area of nearly 24 m2. Further on to the north is the gate where the drawbridge used to be. Also evident are the Byzantine citadel, located at the center of the fortress, another large cistern, the Crusader tea house, and a Crusader church adjoining one of two Byzantine chapels. As for the Arab additions to the fortress, they include a mosque, which dates back to Qalawun's reign, and a palace, which includes baths with courtyards and ''iwan
An iwan ( fa, ایوان , ar, إيوان , also spelled ivan) is a rectangular hall or space, usually vaulted, walled on three sides, with one end entirely open. The formal gateway to the iwan is called , a Persian term for a portal projecting ...
s''. This has been slightly restored.
Gallery
See also
* List of Crusader castles
*World Heritage Sites in Danger
The List of World Heritage in Danger is compiled by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) through the World Heritage Committee according to Article 11.4 of the World Heritage Convention,Full title: ''Conv ...
References
Bibliography
*
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Further reading
*
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External links
UNESCO Qal’at Salah El-Din
{{Castles in Syria
Aga Khan Trust for Culture projects
Archaeological sites in Latakia Governorate
Byzantine forts
Salah Ed-Din
Crusader castles
Buildings and structures in Latakia Governorate
World Heritage Sites in Syria
World Heritage Sites in Danger
Saladin