Outside the walls
01–04
The Crossing
The castle is here for one reason: this is where the river could be crossed.
The Ditch
The castle's first defence is not something that was built. It is something that was taken away.
The Glacis
A skin of dressed stone laid over the whole slope, so that there is nothing on it to hold.
The Towers and the Curtain
A wall with nothing to shoot through, and towers with nothing else.
The way in
05–07
The Stone Stair
One way in, and it is a staircase on an arch over a ditch.
06AyyubidThe Bent Entrance
A door you cannot run at, because after it the passage turns, and turns again.
The Inscription
The castle carries its own construction dates, in a band of naskh above its own door.
Inside the castle
08–13
The Vaulted Passage
From the gate a single great vault climbs into the castle, with rooms opening off it the whole way.
The Cisterns and Stores
A siege is not decided by the walls. It is decided by how long the water lasts.
The Palace
Four wings around a courtyard with a fountain in it — inside a fortress on a fighting frontier.
11Ayyubid · the ground floorThe Bath
A hammam and an oven, because a place built to be cut off has to be able to live cut off.
The Mosque
A small mosque on the highest floor, with an arcade on the outside looking over the river — which almost no mosque has.
13AyyubidThe Hanging Stair
The way from one floor to the next, built out from the wall with nothing under it.