Sidon's Sea Castle ( ar, قلعة صيدا البحرية, ''Kalaat Saida al-Bahriya'') was built by the

crusaders The Crusades were a series of religious wars initiated, supported, and sometimes directed by the Latin Church in the medieval period. The best known of these Crusades are those to the Holy Land in the period between 1095 and 1291 that were ...

in the thirteenth century as a fortress of the

holy land The Holy Land; Arabic: or is an area roughly located between the Mediterranean Sea and the Eastern Bank of the Jordan River, traditionally synonymous both with the biblical Land of Israel and with the region of Palestine. The term "Ho ...

. It is one of the most prominent historical sites in the port city of

Sidon Sidon ( ; he, צִידוֹן, ''Ṣīḏōn'') known locally as Sayda or Saida ( ar, صيدا ''Ṣaydā''), is the third-largest city in Lebanon. It is located in the South Governorate, of which it is the capital, on the Mediterranean coast ...

Lebanon Lebanon ( , ar, لُبْنَان, translit=lubnān, ), officially the Republic of Lebanon () or the Lebanese Republic, is a country in Western Asia. It is located between Syria to Lebanon–Syria border, the north and east and Israel to Blue ...

History

The city of Sidon is located on the

Mediterranean The Mediterranean Sea is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean Basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the north by Western and Southern Europe and Anatolia, on the south by North Africa, and on th ...

coast of Lebanon. This ancient

Phoenicia Phoenicia () was an ancient thalassocratic civilization originating in the Levant region of the eastern Mediterranean, primarily located in modern Lebanon. The territory of the Phoenician city-states extended and shrank throughout their his ...

n city has been of great religious, political and commercial value; it is said to be inhabited since 4000 B.C. In AD 1228, the

Crusaders The Crusades were a series of religious wars initiated, supported, and sometimes directed by the Latin Church in the medieval period. The best known of these Crusades are those to the Holy Land in the period between 1095 and 1291 that were ...

built Sidon's Sea Castle as a fortress on a small island connected to the mainland by a narrow 80m long roadway. The island was formerly the site of a temple to

Melqart Melqart (also Melkarth or Melicarthus) was the tutelary god of the Phoenician city-state of Tyre and a major deity in the Phoenician and Punic pantheons. Often titled the "Lord of Tyre" ('' Ba‘al Ṣūr''), he was also known as the Son of ...

, the Phoenician version of

Heracles Heracles ( ; grc-gre, Ἡρακλῆς, , glory/fame of Hera), born Alcaeus (, ''Alkaios'') or Alcides (, ''Alkeidēs''), was a divine hero in Greek mythology, the son of Zeus and Alcmene, and the foster son of Amphitryon.By his adopt ...

. The beauty of the Castle can be seen in old illustrations of it; however, after bearing several wars, it has been damaged and renovated several times. It was partially destroyed by the

Mamluks Mamluk ( ar, مملوك, mamlūk (singular), , ''mamālīk'' (plural), translated as "one who is owned", meaning "slave", also transliterated as ''Mameluke'', ''mamluq'', ''mamluke'', ''mameluk'', ''mameluke'', ''mamaluke'', or ''marmeluke'') i ...

when they took over the city from the Crusaders, but they subsequently rebuilt it and added the long causeway. The castle later fell into disuse, but was again restored in the 17th century by Emir Fakhreddine II, only to suffer great damage. There is a possibility that the island on which the castle is built was, in fact, the location of the Phoenician King's palace and several other Phoenician monuments which were destroyed by

Esarhaddon Esarhaddon, also spelled Essarhaddon, Assarhaddon and Ashurhaddon (Neo-Assyrian cuneiform: , also , meaning "Ashur has given me a brother"; Biblical Hebrew: ''ʾĒsar-Ḥaddōn'') was the king of the Neo-Assyrian Empire from the death of his ...

and then by natural earthquakes. This island has also served as a shelter from inside attacks on the city.Almashriq. Retrieved from: http://almashriq.hiof.no/lebanon/900/910/919/saida1/history.html Great Sidon, Little Sidon, powerful fortresses, pastures, cisterns and fortifications are all mentioned in the

Assyria Assyria (Neo-Assyrian cuneiform: , romanized: ''māt Aššur''; syc, ܐܬܘܪ, ʾāthor) was a major ancient Mesopotamian civilization which existed as a city-state at times controlling regional territories in the indigenous lands of the As ...

n king

Sennacherib Sennacherib (Neo-Assyrian cuneiform: or , meaning "Sin (mythology), Sîn has replaced the brothers") was the king of the Neo-Assyrian Empire from the death of his father Sargon II in 705BC to his own death in 681BC. The second king of the ...

's recordings of his attacks on Sidon and nearby cities.

Description

Today, the castle consists primarily of two towers connected by a wall. In the outer walls,

Roman Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD * Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a lett ...

columns were used as horizontal reinforcements, a feature often seen in fortifications built on or near former Roman sites. The rectangular west tower to the left of the entrance is the better preserved of the two. There is a large vaulted room scattered with old carved capitals and rusting cannonballs. A winding staircase leads up to the roof, where there is a small, domed

Ottoman Ottoman is the Turkish spelling of the Arabic masculine given name Uthman ( ar, عُثْمان, ‘uthmān). It may refer to: Governments and dynasties * Ottoman Caliphate, an Islamic caliphate from 1517 to 1924 * Ottoman Empire, in existence fro ...

-era

mosque A mosque (; from ar, مَسْجِد, masjid, ; literally "place of ritual prostration"), also called masjid, is a Place of worship, place of prayer for Muslims. Mosques are usually covered buildings, but can be any place where prayers (sujud) ...

. From the roof, there is a view across the old city and fishing harbor. The east tower isn't as well preserved and was built in two phases; the lower part dates to the Crusader period, while the upper level was built by the

. There has also been evidence of the old Phoenician city being buried under the sea in the area surrounding the castle: structures of walls, columns, stairways, remains of buildings, statues and cisterns.

Gallery

File:AUSTRALIAN FORCES IN LEBANON, 1941 AUS533.jpg, Australian troops among the ruins of the Sidon Sea Castle during the Syria-Lebanon Campaign, 1941 File:Sidon Sea Castle.jpg, Sidon Sea Castle File:SaidaCastle.jpeg, Sidon Castle at night File:View from Sidon's Sea Castle, Sidon, Lebanon.jpg File:Sidon Sea Castle, Sidon, Lebanon.jpg File:Sidon's Sea Castle, Sidon, Lebanon.jpg File:Sidon Sea Castle, Mediterranean Sea, Sidon, Lebanon.jpg File:Sidon.jpg

References

* Sidon (Pamphlet), Ministry of Tourism of Lebanon, Arab Printing Press, 2009 * Sea Castle. Lonely Planet Review for sea castle.

Lonely Planet Lonely Planet is a travel guide book publisher. Founded in Australia in 1973, the company has printed over 150 million books. History Early years Lonely Planet was founded by married couple Maureen Wheeler, Maureen and Tony Wheeler. In 19 ...

* Sidon. Discover Lebanon. Lebanon Guide. * Sidon in History. Old engraving of Saida and the Sea-Castle. Al-Mashriq. * Sidon. Amenagement et urbanisme. Culture and Heritage Report.p 9.2

External links

Sidon info

Fortress, Khan and the Great Mosque - DiscoverLebanon

lonelyplanet.com

lebanonguide.com

charbelnahas.org
(PDF) {{Castles in Lebanon Buildings and structures completed in the 13th century Castles in Lebanon Sidon District Tourism in Lebanon Tourist attractions in Lebanon Castles and fortifications of the Knights Templar

History

Description

Gallery

See also

References

External links