Cafarlet

Ruins of Castle Cafarlet, 2008

The castle Cafarlet ( Latin: Kaferlatum, Arabic: Kafr Lam ( كفرلام ), also Kafr Lab, Kafarla, Capharleth, Kafarletum ) is the ruins of a Crusader fortress in Israel today.

Location

The castle is located at the place HaBonim ( הַבּוֹנִים ) on the Carmel coast, about a kilometer from the sea. Like the nearby castle Merle she secured the coastal road between Haifa and Caesarea Maritima in the former Kingdom of Jerusalem.

History

The castle found in medieval documents barely mentioned. It was under the reign of the Lord of the nearby Caesarea. The architecture of the system, with its rectangular plan as simple, with towers at the four corners reinforced circular castle was already customary in the time of the Umayyad Caliphate, suggesting that it was built before the arrival of the Crusaders in 1099 by Muslims.

After the Battle of Hattin in 1187 was probably also occupied Cafarlet of Saladin, until it was retaken by the Third Crusade.

In October 1213, the Lord of Caesarea transferred the castle along with two other goods as security for a loan granted by this than 1,000 Bezanten to the Hospitallers. In 1232 he sold the castle for a price of 16,000 Saracen Bezanten finally to the Order. The higher price is probably due to the fact that the Lord of Caesarea had expanded the castle by a Damascene raid on his lands in 1227.

1255 transferred the Hospitaller castle to the Knights Templar. 1265 Cafarlet was conquered by the Mamluks, but apparently recovered shortly afterwards by the Crusaders. 1291 fell Cafarlet finally into the hands of the Mamluks.