Qala'at Salah ad-Din (قلعة صلاح الدين)
There are three famous crusader castles to be found in Syria. Crac des Chevaliers of Krak des Chevaliers is the most famous one. Qala'at Salah ad-Din is the second one and Qala'at Marqab the third. I already visited Krak and Marqab on my first visit to Syria. "Qala'at Salah ad-Din" means "Saladin's Castle". It was called 'Saône' during the crusaders times (named after Robert de Saône) and Sayhun in Arabic until 1957. Now it's called after its conqueror. The castle is located beautifully on a mountain. One very interesting thing is the man-made canyon, cut out of the rock to make it more difficult for attackers to reach the castle. The builders left a freestanding 28 meter high needle to support a drawbridge.
Strangely enough there's not much information on the web covering this castle. Here's a Wikipedia page (new window) on Salah ad-Din.
The castle can be reached from Lattakia by minibus, taking you to the village of Al-Haffa and then either a long walk up the mountain or taking a (motor)taxi. My time was limited, so I took a motortaxi.
