Beaufort Castle ( Belfort ) ( Arabic قلعة الشقيف , Qala'at ash-Shqif , Hebrew מבצר הבופור , Mivtsār hāBōfōr , English Beaufort , Belfort ) - crusader fortress .
The castle is located in Nabatei in southern Lebanon , near Mount Hermon above the Litani River, 100 km from Beirut and 1 km from the village of Arnuna. It is located at an altitude of about 300 meters.
Built at the beginning of the XII century by the crusaders. Named after the Belfort fortress, locking the so-called " Burgundy Gate " .
In 1189, [1] was besieged by Saladin .
April 22, 1190 was transferred to Saladin as part of an exchange for Reginald de Granier . In 1240, Beaufort Castle was returned by the Sultan of Damascus named Al-Salih Ismael. In 1260 he was sold by the grandson of Reginald to the Knights Templar .
In 1268, the Sultan of the Mamluks Beibars I captured the castle, and after that a relative calm was established in the XIV - XVI centuries . In the 17th century, it belonged to the Lebanese prince Fakhr al-Din II as a result of his war with Murad IV , the Sultan of the Ottoman Empire , the upper part of the castle was completely destroyed.
In 1782, the governor of Acre, Ahmed Al-Jazzar, besieged the fortress, captured it and destroyed many of the remaining fortifications. Earthquakes in 1837 destroyed many parts of the castle, and it was used as a quarry and a shelter for flocks of sheep.
With the support of France , restoration work was carried out in the period from 1920 to 1947. In the period 1912-1947, the ruins of the fortress were repeatedly used by Arab troops as a stronghold and improvised fortification. Since 1976 it became one of the bases of the Palestine Liberation Organization and its territory was used for rocket attacks on Israel . As a result of this, from 1976 to 1980, the castle was retaliated by the Israel Defense Forces .
June 7, 1982, after the start of Operation Peace in the Galilee by Israel, Beaufort Castle was captured by the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) .
From 1982 to 2000, the castle and the surrounding territories were used by the IDF as a military base , fortifications were built.
In 2000, the IDF left the area, fortifications and bunkers were blown up, and the castle was damaged during this.
After that, the castle lands became one of the bases of the Hezbollah organization.
Content
In Culture
- To the cinema
- In 2007, in Israel, directed by J. Cedar, based on the book of R. Leshem , a film of the same name was shot, telling about the last days of the Israeli military presence in the castle.
See also
- Beaufort (film)
Notes
- ↑ Source Letter from the East to the Master of Hospitallers. Anonymous, 1187. indicates 1187.