Coliath ( ''Qalaat al-Qlaiaat''; ) are

ruins Ruins () are the remains of a civilization's architecture. The term refers to formerly intact structures that have fallen into a state of partial or total disrepair over time due to a variety of factors, such as lack of maintenance, deliberate ...

of a

fortification A fortification (also called a fort, fortress, fastness, or stronghold) is a military construction designed for the defense of territories in warfare, and is used to establish rule in a region during peacetime. The term is derived from Lati ...

of the

crusaders The Crusades were a series of religious wars initiated, supported, and at times directed by the Papacy during the Middle Ages. The most prominent of these were the campaigns to the Holy Land aimed at reclaiming Jerusalem and its surrounding ...

Lebanon Lebanon, officially the Republic of Lebanon, is a country in the Levant region of West Asia. Situated at the crossroads of the Mediterranean Basin and the Arabian Peninsula, it is bordered by Syria to the north and east, Israel to the south ...

. It belonged to the

Knights Hospitaller The Order of Knights of the Hospital of Saint John of Jerusalem, commonly known as the Knights Hospitaller (), is a Catholic military order. It was founded in the crusader Kingdom of Jerusalem in the 12th century and had headquarters there ...

. This large plain castrum, built during the first phase of Frankish occupation, dominates a slight knoll only two kilometers from the shore and five kilometers north of Archas. Coliath or "La Colée" - a francization of the non-Arabic ''al-Qulai'a'', "the little fortress", the fort, plural ''al-Qulai'at'', the forts - was given by Count Pons of Tripoli to the Hospitaller order in 1127. Saladin's brother,

al-Adil Al-Adil I (, in full al-Malik al-Adil Sayf ad-Din Abu-Bakr Ahmed ibn Najm ad-Din Ayyub, ,‎ "Ahmed, son of Najm ad-Din Ayyub, father of Bakr, the Just King, Sword of the Faith"; 1145 – 31 August 1218) was the fourth Sultan of Egypt, Sultan o ...

, seized it in 1207 and dismantled it. It was then reoccupied by the Franks, but it was the

Mamluk Mamluk or Mamaluk (; (singular), , ''mamālīk'' (plural); translated as "one who is owned", meaning "slave") were non-Arab, ethnically diverse (mostly Turkic, Caucasian, Eastern and Southeastern European) enslaved mercenaries, slave-so ...

sultan Sultan (; ', ) is a position with several historical meanings. Originally, it was an Arabic abstract noun meaning "strength", "authority", "rulership", derived from the verbal noun ', meaning "authority" or "power". Later, it came to be use ...

Baibars Al-Malik al-Zahir Rukn al-Din Baybars al-Bunduqdari (; 1223/1228 – 1 July 1277), commonly known as Baibars or Baybars () and nicknamed Abu al-Futuh (, ), was the fourth Mamluk sultan of Egypt and Syria, of Turkic Kipchak origin, in the Ba ...

who, in the summer of 1266, completely ruined it as a prelude to the capture of Tripoli. Its defensive role was mediocre, so it was generally used as a dwelling for a troop in the field in times of war, as a base for economic domination in times of peace, or more simply as a place of refuge against raiders. The plan of its construction is that of a ''castrum'' (enclosure castle) similar to that of several other sites fortified by military orders in the region. It is a square enclosure flanked by towers, housing on its reverse side large vaulted multifunctional halls. Comparative examples include the inner enclosure of the citadel of Belvoir overlooking the Jordan Valley, the first enclosure of the Krac des Chevaliers, and the more modest enclosures of Qalaat Yahmour and Umm Hosh.

References

Coliath
at ''maxime.goepp.free.fr'' (French) *

Hugh N. Kennedy Hugh Nigel Kennedy (born 22 October 1947) is a British medievalist 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 History at th ...

, ''Crusader Castles'', Cambridge University Press, 1994, pp. 78-79 * Adrian J. Boas, ''Crusader Archaeology: The Material Culture of the Latin East'', Routledge, 1999, pp. 98-99 {{coord, 34.5819, N, 36.0158, E, source:wikidata, display=title Castles and fortifications of the Knights Hospitaller Ruined castles in Lebanon