Safita

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View of Safita from Chastel Blanc.

The Tower.

Safita (Arabic: صا فيتا‎, transliteration: Ṣāfītā) is a city in north-western Syria, located to the southeast of Tartous and to the northwest of Krak des Chevaliers. The city has a population of 33,000. It is located on the tops of 3 hills and the valleys in between them, in the coastal mountain ranges of Syria. It was important during the crusades, and was inhabited by the Knights Templar of the castle Chastel Blanc while part of the County of Tripoli.

1 History
2 Chastel Blanc
3 Notes
4 External links

[edit] History

The city has been inhabited since the times of the Phoenicians, and several archaeological discoveries have been made, including Phoenician and Canaanite settlements.

In 1102, Raymond IV of Toulouse began to take the land of the Banu Ammars Emirs of Tripoli. A four-year siege on Tripoli resulted in full control of the city and many lands surrounding it, including Safita. Mamluk Sultan Qalawun captured the county in 1289, and Safita was once again under Muslim rule.

[edit] Chastel Blanc

Chastel Blanc (called by natives, 'the White tower') was built by the Knights Templar during the Crusades. Built on the middle hill of Safita's three hills, it offers a commanding view of the surrounding countryside, and was a major part of the network of Crusader fortifications in the area. From the roof, one can see from the Mediterranean Sea to the snow-covered mountains of Lebanon, and Tripoli. From Chastel Blanc it would have been possible to see the Templar strongholds at Tortosa and Ruad Island to the northwest, Chastel Rouge on the coastline to the southwest, Akkar to the south, and Krak des Chevaliers (the headquarters of the Syrian Knights Hospitallers) to the southeast. The tower itself has a height of 30 meters, a width of 50 meters, and a length of 70 meters. A large bell is on the western wall, and its sound can be heard up to 5 kilometers from Safita.

St. Michael's Chapel on the ground floor of Chastel Blanc.

Considering the time of its construction during the Crusades, the tower served two purposes, as both a chapel and a fortress, with 15'-thick walls constructed of massive and carefully-fitted limestone blocks. The tower's primary function was as a religious building, and the ground floor still contains the Crusader chapel of St. Michael. The second floor, which can be reached by a flight of partially destroyed stairs, served as a dormitory, and contains many small angled windows that were used by archers to defend the tower. Cut into the rock below the tower is a water cistern, an essential element in case of siege.^[1]

There were other fortifications in Safita in addition to the tower, however, the tower is the only fortification that has lasted all this time, even surviving an earthquake in 1202. During French colonialism, efforts were made to restore the tower, causing great discomfort to the villagers that lived very close to it.