Tripoli · Old City · Lebanon

Raymond de Saint-Gilles Citadel

citadelCrusader fortressMamlukgoogle verified

easy

9/10

best: morning, afternoon

historic, panoramic, dramatic

A local would say...

A Crusader built this fortress, a Mamluk burned it, then rebuilt it — and both left their signatures on the same walls.

Towering above Lebanon's second city, this Crusader fortress was originally built between 1103 and 1104 during the Crusades, burned down in 1297 and rebuilt by a Mamluk emir. Its strategic height provides commanding views over Tripoli's medieval old city, whose atmospheric souqs, Mamluk madrassas and mosques spread beneath it.