Al-Kahf Castle or the Castle of the Cave () is a medieval Nizari Isma'ili castle located around southeast of Margat, in the al-Ansariyah mountains in northwest

Syria Syria, officially the Syrian Arab Republic, is a country in West Asia located in the Eastern Mediterranean and the Levant. It borders the Mediterranean Sea to the west, Turkey to Syria–Turkey border, the north, Iraq to Iraq–Syria border, t ...

History

The castle was built around 1120 by Saif al-Mulk ibn Amrun, and was sold to the Isma'ilis 1138 by his son Musa. It served as the base of the Chief Da'i of Syria Abu Muhammad. Rashid ad-Din Sinan, the Arab leader of the Isma'ili sect in Syria, used this castle initially as his base and hermitage. Sinan eventually died and was buried there in 1193. In 1197 the Regent of

Jerusalem Jerusalem is a city in the Southern Levant, on a plateau in the Judaean Mountains between the Mediterranean Sea, Mediterranean and the Dead Sea. It is one of the List of oldest continuously inhabited cities, oldest cities in the world, and ...

Henry II, Count of Champagne Henry II of Champagne or Henry I of Jerusalem (29 July 1166 – 10 September 1197) was the count of Champagne from 1181 and the king of Jerusalem ''jure uxoris'' from his marriage to Queen Isabella I in 1192 until his death in 1197. Early li ...

, visited the castle to secure an alliance with Sinan's successor. The castle was the last Isma'ili stronghold in Syria to surrender to the

Mamluks 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-sold ...

. Sultan

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 ...

finally captured it in 1273, and it remained in use until Ottoman times, when it served at times as a prison for important personages. The castle was finally destroyed in 1816 by Mustafa Agha Barbar, the Ottoman governor of Tripoli.

Overview

The castle sits on a ridge between two gorges. The only entrance to the castle runs along a narrow path halfway down the steep northern slope. The general direction of the castle is east–west, running along the spur of rock on which it was built. The castle is divided into three, or possibly four, main sections. At the west end lies a long flat section. The section is clear of any buildings, except the outer walls and a bastion at the end. From the outer bailey the ground rises up towards the central citadel and fortifications. These buildings probably contained living quarters, storerooms and the water storage area with seven

cisterns A cistern (; , ; ) is a waterproof receptacle for holding liquids, usually water. Cisterns are often built to catch and store rainwater. To prevent leakage, the interior of the cistern is often lined with hydraulic plaster. Cisterns are disti ...

References

Sources

* * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Kahf Castle Buildings and structures completed in 1120 Castles in Syria Buildings and structures in Tartus Governorate Archaeological sites in Tartus Governorate Official residences in Asia