Trapessac () is a

medieval In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the 5th to the late 15th centuries, similarly to the post-classical period of World history (field), global history. It began with the fall of the West ...

fortress located 4 km north of the town of

Kırıkhan Kırıkhan is a municipality and district of Hatay Province, Turkey. Its area is 715 km2, and its population is 121,028 (2022). The name ''Kırıkhan'' means "broken inn" in the Turkish language, perhaps a reference to one of the many lodgings ...

Hatay Province Hatay Province (, ) is the southernmost province and metropolitan municipality of Turkey. Its area is , and its population is 1,686,043 (2022). It is situated mostly outside Anatolia, along the eastern coast of the Levantine Sea. The province ...

Turkey Turkey, officially the Republic of Türkiye, is a country mainly located in Anatolia in West Asia, with a relatively small part called East Thrace in Southeast Europe. It borders the Black Sea to the north; Georgia (country), Georgia, Armen ...

. Trapessac was constructed in the 12th century by the

Knights Templar The Poor Fellow-Soldiers of Christ and of the Temple of Solomon, mainly known as the Knights Templar, was a Military order (religious society), military order of the Catholic Church, Catholic faith, and one of the most important military ord ...

and, together with the nearby fortress at Bagras, guarded the Syrian Gates, the principal pass between the coastal region of

Cilicia Cilicia () is a geographical region in southern Anatolia, extending inland from the northeastern coasts of the Mediterranean Sea. Cilicia has a population ranging over six million, concentrated mostly at the Cilician plain (). The region inclu ...

and inland

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 ...

.Robert W. Edwards, ''The Fortifications of Armenian Cilicia'' (Washington, D.C.: Dumbarton Oaks Research Library and Collection, 1987), p. 253. The castle fell to

Saladin Salah ad-Din Yusuf ibn Ayyub ( – 4 March 1193), commonly known as Saladin, was the founder of the Ayyubid dynasty. Hailing from a Kurdish family, he was the first sultan of both Egypt and Syria. An important figure of the Third Crusade, h ...

in 1188 after a bitterly fought, two-week siege. Lying as it did at a key point in the Amanus marches between the

Principality of Antioch The Principality of Antioch (; ) was one of the Crusader states created during the First Crusade which included parts of Anatolia (modern-day Turkey) and History of Syria#Medieval era, Syria. The principality was much smaller than the County of ...

and the

Armenian Kingdom of Cilicia The Armenian Kingdom of Cilicia, also known as Cilician Armenia, Lesser Armenia, Little Armenia or New Armenia, and formerly known as the Armenian Principality of Cilicia, was an Armenian state formed during the High Middle Ages by Armenian ...

, both the Templars and the Armenians were eager to retake the castle. Leo I of Armenia attempted to seize it in 1205 but was repelled by the defenders. The Templars also launched an expedition to recover it in 1237, but were ambushed and badly defeated, suffering grievous losses. It was reoccupied by Hetoum I in 1261 after the

Mongol Mongols are an East Asian ethnic group native to Mongolia, China (Inner Mongolia and other 11 autonomous territories), as well as the republics of Buryatia and Kalmykia in Russia. The Mongols are the principal member of the large family of M ...

s captured it in their invasion of Syria. However, the Armenians were not to hold it long. After the defeat of the Armenian army at the Battle of Mari in 1266, Hetoum agreed to surrender the fortress 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 ...

to ransom his son Leo. It passed into the hands of the

Egypt Egypt ( , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a country spanning the Northeast Africa, northeast corner of Africa and Western Asia, southwest corner of Asia via the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to northe ...

ian Mamluk sultan

Baybars 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 ...

in 1268. In 1280, the fortress was temporarily regained by

Abaqa Khan Abaqa Khan (27 February 1234 – 4 April 1282, , "paternal uncle", also transliterated Abaġa), was the second Mongol ruler ('' Ilkhan'') of the Ilkhanate. The son of Hulagu Khan and Lady Yesünčin and the grandson of Tolui, he reigned from 1265 ...

when he advanced to sack

Aleppo Aleppo is a city in Syria, which serves as the capital of the Aleppo Governorate, the most populous Governorates of Syria, governorate of Syria. With an estimated population of 2,098,000 residents it is Syria's largest city by urban area, and ...

, only to be abandoned when he withdrew from Syria.

References

External links

Trapessac at Forteresses d'Orient

Photographic survey of Trapessac Castle
Buildings and structures completed in the 11th century Crusader castles Buildings and structures in Hatay Province History of Hatay Province Castles in Turkey Castles and fortifications of the Knights Templar {{Turkey-castle-stub