Crac des Chevaliers meets my idealised vision of “Medieval Castle” more than any other I know of. Its skyline and isolated location are incomparable and it is a worthy addition to a list which is already overfull of (often more average!) military structures.

The inscription also includes another of Syria’s many castles left over from the period of the Crusades - Qal’at Salah El-Din (Saladin’s Castle). In fact it was only given this name in 1957 to honour the sultan who conquered it in 1188 (Previously it was the “Fortress of Sayun” or “Chateau de Saône”). This perhaps highlights the tensions in how Arabs view Crusader castles – even the names are often associated with the European invaders! In fact the history of their design and use is rather more complicated. To get over the problem the ICOMOS evaluation rather piously states “The stones of these castles, which testify to the confrontation of two different conceptions, two different religious traditions, are now testimony to coexistence, exchange and interaction, a place for peace and culture, a monument for human genius”. Well – possibly/hopefully!!

We visited both castles in 1999. Crac is the better preserved and has plenty of dark rooms and corridors to explore. However to a non-specialist in military fortifications the outside views of the castle are the more impressive – though the views of the surrounding mountains from the ramparts are also very fine and emphasise its wonderful defensive location. The walls of Saladin’s Citadel spread further but there is less to see both inside and out – a particular sight however is an enormous gorge cut in the rock to strengthen a weak defence on one side. This is big enough for the road to the castle to run through it. In the middle the remains of a high pillar which was part of a drawbridge connecting the 2 sides can be seen. My strongest memory of our visit to the castle was seeing all the wild cyclamen growing in the surrounding forests and ravines (we were there in April).

This was another 2006 addition where, despite accepting the validity of the proposed criteria for “outstanding universal value”, ICOMOS recommended referral rather than inscription (and was presumably overruled by WHC). In particular it wanted assurances that planned cable cars to the 2 sites would not be built - even in the buffer zone!! As I remember these sites in their glorious isolation with no other tourists around I give thanks again for having been able to see them at what might well be an optimal era – relatively easy to get to (we had a rent-a-car) but not too much so!

P.S. I feel a “WHS Trivia” list coming on - “WHS with Cable Cars”! Can anyone help? UNESCO has been very critical of new cable car suggestions but a number seem to have slipped through in the past! So far (2/8/06) the following 13 have been suggested as "candidates" (though it is not always possible to tell if they are situated within the core or buffer zones) – Mt Taishan, Mt Qingcheng, Mt Huangshan, Wulingyuan (They seem “de rigeur” in China!), Masada, Upper Middle Rhine, Pavaghad, Jungfrau, Budapest, Macao, Grt Blue Mtns, Kii Mtn, Valparaiso (Projects have also been suggested for – Jerusalem, Machu Picchu and of course Crac) .