Krak des Chevaliers (Syria)

Krak des Chevaliers is a Syrian military fortress, situated near the city of Homs and can be considered the quintessential medieval castle age of crusade. It was built to control the so-called "Homs Gap," a strategic valley crossing point through which Syria communicated with the Mediterranean Sea.

Was the most important and best-known fortified military construction Military Order of the Hospital of the Knights of St. John of Jerusalem, better known as the Hospitaller Order before becoming Order of the Knights of Rhodes and finally Order of the Knights of Malta. In fact, the first to settle on this mountain of 750 m were the Kurds, but Saladin later built a massive fortress that was later occupied by the Knights.

Spread over an area of ​​approximately 3 hectares, the krak rests on a trapezoid, whose shorter side is facing a very steep slope, which facilitates the passive defense. There are two city walls: the outside, with numerous cylindrical towers is divided by the internal one by a moat that will stop at the large water tank. The western side of the outer wall, defended by five semicircular towers overlooking a cliff 300 meters deep.