The Fortress of Niha (also called ''Cave of Tyron'' in Frankish sources and ''Chquif Tayroun'' in Arabic sources) is an ancient fortress in

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 ...

, first mentioned in historical records in 975 AD. It is located in the municipality of

Niha Chouf Niha ( ) is a town in the Chouf District, Chouf which belongs to Mount Lebanon Governorate, Mount Lebanon of Lebanon. The town is 44 miles from Beirut and it has about 3,750 hectares; there are 6,500 inhabitants of Druze and Christians, Christian. ...

, and is today visited as cultural heritage in the Shouf Cedar Nature Reserve. Carved into the rock of a cliff overlooking the Bisri and 'Aray valley, the Fortress of Niha overlooks the road between

Sidon Sidon ( ) or better known as Saida ( ; ) is the third-largest city in Lebanon. It is located on the Mediterranean Sea, Mediterranean coast in the South Governorate, Lebanon, South Governorate, of which it is the capital. Tyre, Lebanon, Tyre, t ...

and the

Beqaa valley The Beqaa Valley (, ; Bekaa, Biqâ, Becaa) is a fertile valley in eastern Lebanon and its most important farming region. Industry, especially the country's agricultural industry, also flourishes in Beqaa. The region broadly corresponds to th ...

. It was first mentioned in 975 AD and then again in 1133. Control over the fortress alternated between 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 ...

and local Muslims until its destruction in 1261. In 1270, 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 ...

leader

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 ...

ordered it rebuilt. In 1585, the Emir Qorqomaz Maan probably took refuge in it briefly before his death. It is alleged that the Emir

Fakhr-al-Din II Fakhr al-Din Ma'n (; 6 August 1572 13 April 1635), commonly known as Fakhr al-Din II or Fakhreddine II (), was the paramount Druze emir of Mount Lebanon from the Ma'n dynasty, an Ottoman governor of Sidon-Beirut and Safed, and the strongman ...

also found refuge there before he was executed by the Pasha of Damascus in 1635, but it might more probably have been his father Emir Korkomaz, in 1584. Shaped like a cave over a hundred meters deep, the fortress features chambers and rooms which were excavated in order to shelter soldiers and as depots for domestic work.

References

* Shouf Biosphere Reserve official brochure, as available in March 2013). {{Coord, 33.57978318, N, 35.60890259, E, display=title Rock-cut architecture of Lebanon Chouf District Tourism in Lebanon Tourist attractions in Lebanon

See also

References