Crusader Castle Essay

The most famous of all of the crusader castles was Crac des Chevalliers, that is Castle of the Knights in Syria. This castle is described as being the best conserved. In 1142, the castle was given to the Knights Hospitallers remodeled and developed it into the most well-known work of military architecture of all time during the next fifty years. With its location of 700 meters above sea level, and in between the valleys of Homs and Tripoli, and being the perfect design of middle age fortification, the castle was never taken by storm.

B. Plan Analysis:

• Crac des Chevaliers has two concentric lines of defense:

1. the inner entrance/rampart lying close to the outer

2. the outer curtain wall furnished on the north and west sides with eight

An outer curtained wall with several cylindrical towers and what is known as the inner ring with an entrance that has a wide ramp

2. A vaulted passage leading a platform that links to the inner castle.

• The Hospitallers’ upgrading made a huge impact on the castle. The inner curtain wall extended up to 30 meters thick at the base on the south side, with seven guard towers 9 meters in diameter. They added an outer wall three meters thick with seven guard

towers eight to ten meters thick to create a concentric castle. They had many walls, towers and gatehouses in one massive castle built within lines of defense.

• Round or polygonal shaped keeps or towers were later brought to remove the weak corners of the square keeps

• The fortress had a moat that was covered by a drawbridge leading to postern gates.

• In 1170 the Hospitallers alterations were complete

• In the late 12th century, several earthquakes occurred and caused damage and required reconstruction. Due to the earthquakes in 1142 and 1157, the castle was damaged to an extent that not a single wall remained standing

• A third earthquake damaged the castle in 1202 and in the 13th century the three great towers to the west and the outer fortifications were