Saida Castle

The modern Lebanese city of Sayda, called Sidon in ancient times by the Phoenicians who founded it, was the source port of their Mediterranean trade. The city was captured more than once by conquerors. The Egyptians, Assyrians, Babylonians, Persians, Macedonians, Romans, Arabs, Seljuk Turks, Ottoman Turks and other nations, each in its own time, established its own power here.

Crusaders were also noted here, calling the city Sazhet (Sagette), which is similar to the Latin word “sagitta” - “arrow”. They were taken under the leadership of King Baldwin I of Jerusalem (1110 – 1118) shortly after the First Crusade, 4 December 1110. The city was held by the Crusaders until 1187, when it passed into the hands of the Egyptian Sultan Salah ad-Din (rules in 1174 –1193). Later Sazhet was returned to the crusaders.

The French king Louis IX, who was in the Levant (reigned in 1226 – 1270) ordered to build new fortifications in 1253.

Sozhet defended himself from the Mamluks who attacked him with a few Knights Templar until 14 in July 1291. The surviving knights evacuated to the island of Cyprus.

Later the fortress of Sayda was restored several times and was subjected to destruction until it was brought to combat readiness at the beginning of the 17th century. under the Druze lord (read “Lebanese”) Fakhr ad-Din Bin Maan (ruled in 1590 – 1633), who was preparing for war with the Ottoman Empire. After the obstinate Lebanese leader was eliminated by the Ottomans, the fortress lost its military significance. At present, its ruins are an open-air museum.

The bridge connecting the island on which the fortress is located, with the mainland. View of the fortress from the east

Father of the author of the article

Fortress on the south side

Fortress from the sea (from the west)

Comments

[Thunderbolt]

We were interested in the round in the wall in the photo, where "the author's father" is riding a cannon. What could it be?

[tlauicol]

Pieces of antique columns

Quote: Thunderbolt

We were interested in the round in the wall in the photo, where "the author's father" is riding a cannon. What could it be?

[Same lech]

Capital and monumental structures ... to take such a fortress is not so simple.
An interesting historical place.

[Semurg]

Since ancient times, such material and time costs for the defense and attack on their own kind. These forces and means would be for peaceful purposes, they probably would have already gone beyond the limits of the solar system.

[Same lech]

This parallel can be drawn throughout all human activity on planet Earth ... a society of people ... a consumer society and habitat suitable for the habitat of many millions of living organisms is slowly and surely being destroyed by this very humanity.
There may come a time when Mother Nature will be forced to destroy humanity as parasites with one wave of her hand ...
There are many dangers and people do not yet understand that they are balancing on a razor blade.

[Semurg]

As a child I read science fiction and had an interesting idea that humanity is a pathogenic agent of the earth and the "earth" periodically takes an "antibiotic" to control the number and reduce the influence of human activity on the planet it turns out we are microbes or viruses and we are periodically corroded, somehow it feels like not the crown of creation, but by some kind of pathogenic microorganism.

[Bykov.]

Sea, fortress, beauty.

[Arkady Gaidar]

Here also, someday tourists will visit our ruins)) They will look at primitive technologies of fortification and weapons, and talk about how we lived. Thank you, an interesting place))