rak of the Knights. This is a huge crusader castle built in the Holy Land in the early twelfth century. The castle is built on a spur of land with the natural defence of steep slopes on three of its sides.The site was the location of a castle built by the Kurds but after control of the area the crusaders began the construction of a much larger castle. This was in around 1110. This is an example of a concentric castle with roughly rectangular outer wall with mainly round or semi-circular towers. Access to the outer ward is on the north-east side of the castle. A covered vaulted passage leading first to the south and then after a sharp bend to the north lead to the inner ward. The passage has murder-holes where defenders could fire arrow and other weapons at anyone trying to attack the castle. This arrangement was designed and built by the Hospitallers in the late twelfth century. There are postern gates (small gates allowing the castle's defenders to escape or mount surprise attacks on the attackers) in both inner and outer walls. The inner part of the castle is much higher than the outer allowing defenders to fire down on any attacker who managed to capture the outer walls. The strength of the castle was so great that several sieges failed to ead to the castle's capture. The final siege came in 1271 when the castle fell to Sultan Beibars. The Hospitallers within the castle were allowed to leave.