My first visit in 2009 to قلعة الحصن, this “castle to end all castles” lasted shorter than intended, so I returned when I was in the region in 2010. I tried to integrate the two series into one. The 2010 series starts with a walk over the outer walls and then heads inside, the 2009 one did not make it to the outer walls. If you want to see more crusader castles check my Marqab gallery or Saladin Castle gallery. And as for castles anyway check some of my Turkey ones.

From the Enc. Britt.: “(French-Arabic: Castle of the Knights), greatest fortress built by European crusaders in Syria and Palestine, one of the most notable surviving examples of medieval military architecture. Built at Qalʿat al-Ḥiṣn, Syria, near the northern border of present-day Lebanon, Krak occupied the site of an earlier Muslim stronghold. It was built by the Knights of St. John (Hospitallers), who held it from 1142 till 1271, when it was captured by the Mamlūk sultan Baybars I. It has two concentric towered walls separated by a wide moat and could accommodate a garrison of 2,000 men.”

I took utmost care to get the proper captions in place, but I may have made a mistake somewhere. In particular locating some of the views from the donjon area was hard. So if you have a correction, write a comment and I'll check.

Recent destruction has been documented, see for instance Blog on Times of Israel, or BBC news item.