Citadel of Raymond de Saint-Gilles

The Citadel of Raymond de Saint-Gilles, also known as Qala'at Sanjil an Qala'at Tarablus in Arabic, is a citadel and fort on a hilltop in Tripoli, Lebanon. It takes its name from Raymond de Saint-Gilles, the Count of Toulouse and Crusader commander who was a key player in its enlargement. It is a common misconception that he was responsible for its construction when in 1103 he laid siege to the city.

The citadel of Tripoli was built by Raymon De Saint-Gilles, governor of Tripoli, in 1103 on the emplacement of the castle of Saint-Gilles.When the Mont Pèlerin quarter was set ablaze by the Mamluks in 1289, the castle of Saint-Gilles suffered from the holocaust and stood abandoned on the hilltop for the next eighteen years. It was essential to have an adequate stronghold in Tripoli for the sultan’s troops, temporarily garrisoned in Hisnal-Akrád,as the distance was too great in case of enemy attack. The governor therefore chose the emplacement of the gutted Crusader castle on the hill, incorporating what he could in his citadel, and made use of Roman column shafts and other building material he found nearby. Many of the interior walls, ramps and terraces of the citadel seen today were built in his time.

Abou’l Fidá and Ibn al-Wardi record that, among the important events which took place in the year A.H 746 (1345), was the promulgation of a military decree which was set up by order of the Mamluk Sultan al-Kamil Sha'ban in the citadels of Aleppo, Tripoli, Hisn al-Akrâd and other fortified places.The decree, put over the second entrance way of the citadel of Tripoli, is by far the best preserved. Apparently this sultan, who lived a life...