Citadel of Tripoli

The Citadel of Tripoli (Arabic: قَلْعَة طَرَابُلُس ALA-LC: Qalʻat Ṭarābulus) is a 12th-century fortress in Tripoli, Lebanon. It was built at the top of a hill "during the initial Frankish siege of the city between 1102 and 1109" on the orders of Raymond de Saint-Gilles, who baptized it the Castle of Mount Pilgrim (French: château du Mont-Pèlerin; Latin: castellum Montis Peregrini) while local Muslims have been referring to it as the Castle of Saint-Gilles (Arabic: قَلْعَة سَان جِيل Qalʻat Sān Jīl).

Very little of the original structure has survived, the castle having been rebuilt several times, and for the last time in the early 19th century, when the citadel was extensively restored and rebuilt by the Ottoman governor of Tripoli Mustafa Agha Barbar. The citadel nowadays houses the North Lebanon & Akkar Museum.

Text adapted from “Citadel of Tripoli” on Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0.

Citadel of Tripoli ranks #1,671 of 7,738 worldwide in the atlas's castle fame ranking, and #6 of the 15 mapped in Lebanon. Founded 1103, it is older than 86% of the atlas's dated landmarks — one of 544 atlas entries founded in the 12th century. Its Wikipedia articles were opened 2,691 times in the last 60 days, more than 72% of the atlas. 2 more atlas landmarks stand within 25 km. The nearest day-trip guide is Tripoli, 1 km away. It is one of the 109 landmarks on the atlas's regional map of the Levant. See how Lebanon compares in the castle statistics.

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Read the full history on Wikipedia ↗