Citadel of Raymond de Saint-Gilles

Mons Peregrinus, 2009

Mons Peregrinus ( Pilgrims mountain ) was a castle of the Crusaders near the city of Tripoli in Lebanon. It is situated on a hill about five miles inland. The castle served as a central base of the crusaders to conquer and control of the city and its environs.

History

Raymond IV of Saint- Gilles, Count of Toulouse, pursued following the First Crusade own interests, which were directed less at Jerusalem, but more on the creation of a separate principality. In particular, he intended to counterbalance established by Bohemund of Taranto Principality of Antioch to create. He had already in 1102 the port of Tortosa ( Tartus ) occupied and besieged unsuccessfully since the city of Tripoli.

To give this siege emphasis, he began in the last months of 1103 with the construction of the castle - its construction is considered the beginning of the County of Tripoli - where he was delivered by the Byzantines in return for stonemasons and building materials from Cyprus that he had previously Tancred de Hauteville had prevented them from attacking Latakia. In the spring of 1104, the castle was finished - and already come Raimund son Alfons Jordan here to the world. Raymond gave the castle the name pilgrimage mountain, on the side of Islam, however, it was called Qalat Sandschil, castle of Saint- Gilles.

The castle section of the land routes from Tripoli, but not of the sea routes. Nevertheless, the townspeople attacked in late summer 1104 pilgrimage to mountain, burning everything down between the city and the castle, in which Raymond IV suffered burn injuries in the course of the fighting, in consequence of which he half a year later, died on 28 February 1105. The disputes over succession contributed to the fact that the siege of Tripoli could be terminated only on July 12, 1109 with the capture of the city.

The castle was destroyed by the Mamluks in 1289 in the conquest of Tripoli and in 1307 /08 built by Emir Essendemir Kurgi.

Under the Ottoman Sultan Suleiman the Magnificent took place further extensions. In the early 19th century the citadel was restored under the Ottoman Governor of Tripoli Mustafa Agha Barbar. Only a part of the foundation walls, and the west wall of the citadel are from the Crusader period. Today the ruins is no longer outside the city, but in the core of the new Tripoli.