Citadel of Salah Ed-Din

The Citadel of Salah Ed-Din, medieval Saone, occupies a ridge between two deep gorges in the forested mountains east of Latakia, and its most astonishing feature is the ditch: a chasm twenty-eight metres deep cut by hand through solid rock to sever the ridge, with a lone stone needle left standing to carry the drawbridge. Byzantine walls, a Frankish keep and Ayyubid additions share the site, inscribed by UNESCO together with Crac des Chevaliers. Pine forest fills the gorges below.

Background

The castle stands 7 km east of Al-Haffah and 30 km east of Latakia, and the ridge carried defences by the mid 10th century at the latest, when its first known holder answered to Sayf al-Dawla, the Hamdanid emir of Aleppo. Byzantium held it from 975 until around 1108. Frankish lords followed, as part of the Principality of Antioch, and their large building programme gave the castle much of the look it has today. Robert the Leper, probably its first lord, appears in the records from at least 1119, and his family kept it until 1188. In 1272 it was given to the Mamluk sultan Baibars, and it stayed prosperous until at least the late 14th century.

Source: Wikipedia, "Sahyun Castle"

The main sights

• The rock-cut ditch - the hand-hewn chasm and its drawbridge needle.
• The keep - the massive Frankish tower above the ditch.
• The Byzantine walls - the older circuit along the ridge.
• The forest gorges - green ravines wrapping the castle.

When to go

April to June and September to November are the green, mild seasons. Summer is hot but the forest softens it. Low light dramatises the ditch.

Practical notes

The site is large, steep and mostly unrestored; good footwear matters and drops are unfenced. Facilities are minimal. Access arrangements should be checked locally.

Nearby

Latakia is west, and the Kessab hills are north.

Key facts