Restoration operations continue at Al-Hosn Castle (Krak des Chevaliers) after its return to the tourist attractions map

Last year, Al-Hosn Castle (Krak des Chevaliers) returned to the map of tourist attractions as a result of the restoration projects and welcomed 15,000 visitors including Arab and foreign delegations. 

Al-Hosn Castle (Krak des Chevaliers), which has been registered on the UNESCO World Heritage List since 2006, was subjected to sabotage attacks and thefts from terrorist organizations throughout 2012 and 2013 before the Syrian Arab Army restored security and safety to it in March 2014. 

The Directorate of Antiquities and Museums began carrying out extensive restorations of the Castle, from conducting aerial surveys via a drone to building a three-dimensional model with clear accuracy of the Castle building. 

The director of the Castle Naimah Muharrttam stated that the ongoing restoration operations in the Castle aims to restore its historical and archaeological site, noting that last year witnessed the implementation of some items of the project to restore the tourist and cultural path in the Castle, which is funded by the Ministry of Tourism. 

Muharrttam said that this project includes preparing about 24 identification boards for the paths of the Castle, lighting the first stable, installing a metal manhole for the Tower of the King’s daughter, announcing its investment as a restroom and cafeteria, in addition to cleaning and removing weeds for the visit line, and implementing protection chains for some sites. 

Muharrttam pointed to the importance of the memorandum of understanding signed in June of last year between the Ministry of Culture, the Directorate of Antiquities and Museums and the Saint Ephrem Syriac Patriarchal Authority for Development to implement a project to restore the Al-Zahir Baybars towers and the church. 

In turn, engineer Hazem Hanna, head of the engineering division in the Castle, stated that the memorandum of understanding includes three phases. The first phase related to the restoration of the facade of the Al-ZahirBaybars Tower, the restoration of the vault of the tower and its surroundings, the door leading to Sultan Qalawun Tower, the staircase adjacent to the facade of Al-ZahirBaybars Tower, and the two arches in the western outer wall near the tower.

Hanna added that the second and third phases include the installation of wooden doors and windows for the church tower, the restoration of the northern curtain near the tower of the daughter of the king, and the strengthening of the northern wall of the second stable overlooking the moat of the castle.  

It is noteworthy that Al-Hosn Castle (Krak des Chevaliers) is one of the largest castles in the world and the most important and largest of the medieval castles. 

It is characterized by its magnificent location, decorations, inscriptions and design. Its first construction dates back to the 15th century BC, then it was exposed to many building works with the Mardasids, the time of the Crusades, and then the Mamluks.

Inas Abdulkareem