Margat
Margat | |
---|---|
قلعة المرقب | |
Near Baniyas, Syria | |
Coordinates | 35°09′04″N 35°56′57″E / 35.151111°N 35.949167°E |
Type | Concentric castle |
Site information | |
Owner | Al-Markabi Family |
Open to the public | Yes |
Condition | Ruin, under renovation |
Site history | |
Built | 1062 |
Materials | Basalt |
Margat, also known as Marqab (
Fortress
History
Margat is located on a hill formed by an extinct volcano high about 360 metres (1,180 ft) above sea level on the road between Tripoli and Latakia, overlooking the Mediterranean Sea.
According to Arab sources, the site of Margat Castle was first fortified in 1062 by Muslims[1] who continued to hold it within the Christian Principality of Antioch in the aftermath of the First Crusade. When the Principality was defeated at the Battle of Harran in 1104, the Byzantine Empire took advantage of their weakness and captured Margat[a] from the Muslims. A few years later it was captured by Tancred, Prince of Galilee, regent of Antioch, and became part of the Principality.
In the 1170s, it was controlled by Rainald II Masoir of Antioch as a vassal of the count of Tripoli. The fortress was so large that it had its own household officials and a number of rear-vassals. Rainald II's son Bertrand sold it to the Hospitallers in 1186 as it was too expensive for the Mazoir family to maintain. After some rebuilding and expansion by the Hospitallers it became their headquarters in Syria. Under Hospitaller control, its fourteen towers were thought to be impregnable.
In 1188,
By the beginning of the 13th century the Hospitallers controlled the surrounding land and roads and made a large profit from travellers and pilgrims passing through.
In September 1281, the Hospitallers of Margat dispatched a contingent of troops to support the
Marqat, known as Marqab by the Muslims, became a district of the Mamluk province of Tripoli with maintenance of the area financed by the sultan. Intrepid traveller
During the
The last known owner of the castle was Al-Markabi family (“Al-Marqabi”) where the name was based on the castle.
Architecture
Castles in Europe provided lordly accommodation for their owners and acted as centres of administration. In the Levant the need for defence was paramount and this was reflected in castle design. Historian Hugh Kennedy suggests that "The castle scientifically designed as a fighting machine surely reached its apogee in great buildings like Margat and Crac des Chevaliers."
Village of al-Marqab
Al-Marqab
المرقب | |
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Village | |
UTC+3 (EEST ) |
The village of al-Marqab (
A suburb has existed outside the fortress since at least the late 12th century, during Crusader rule. During this period, its chief exports were
See also
Notes
References
- ^ Kennedy 1994, p. 20
- ISBN 9781409483113.
- ^ Kennedy 1994, p. 164
- ^ a b ed. Heinrichs, 1989, p. 580.
- ^ a b ed. Heinrichs, 1989, p. 582.
- ^ "Qalʿat al-Marqab (Castle), Central courtyard and chapel". syrian-heritage.org/. Retrieved 2021-11-24.
- ^ "Turkey-Syria earthquake: Historic mosques and ancient landmarks reduced to rubble". Middle East Eye. Retrieved 2023-02-10.
- ^ Kennedy 1994, p. 9
- ^ a b General Census of Population and Housing 2004. Syria Central Bureau of Statistics (CBS). Tartus Governorate. (in Arabic) Archive: [1]
- ^ Holliday, Joseph. The Assad Regime: From Counterinsurgency to Civil War. Middle East Security Report 8. Institute for the Study of War. March 2013.
Sources
- Kennedy, Hugh (1994), Crusader Castles, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, ISBN 0-521-42068-7
- W. P. Heinrichs, ed. (1989), "Al-Markab", E. J. Brill's The Encyclopaedia of Islam, vol. 4, BRILL, ISBN 9789004090828
Further reading
- Folda, Jaroslav; French, Pamela; Coupel, Pierre (1982), "Crusader Frescoes at Crac des Chevaliers and Marqab Castle", Dumbarton Oaks Papers, 36, Dumbarton Oaks, Trustees for Harvard University: 177–210, JSTOR 1291467
- Rey, Guillaume (1871), Etudes sur les monuments de l'architecture militaire des Croisés en Syrie et dans l'ile de Chypre (in French), Paris: Impr. nationale
External links
- Tour through castle
- Syria Times Archived 2017-12-01 at the Wayback Machine
- Photos of al-Marqab at the American Center of Research