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Wednesday 2004-05-12 - Krak des Chevaliers, Syria
Largest castle I’ve ever seen
On the way to Aleppo our first stop is at Krak des Chevaliers: An enormous castle built by the crusaders in 1110 on the spot of an older fort occupied by a garrison of Kurd troops. It’s hardly imaginable such a stronghold was ever taken, and indeed two sieges in 1163 and 1172 were fought off. However, a century later, in 1271 the Mamelukes came with much improved siege equipment and succeeded in taking the stronghold. Later, locals lived for many years in the castle which is now being restored again. One can roam around for quite some time through stables, storage areas, chapel, large rooms, and climb the command tower to oversee it all. On a clear day one should be able to see the Mediterranean from here — but alas not today.
Wednesday 2004-05-12 - Hama, Syria
Round and round
Our next (unscheduled but much appreciated) stop is at Hama to see the norias. These impressive waterwheels were built for both irrigation and water mains for the city via aqueducts, all powered by the water itself. When more and more water was held up outside for irrigation and didn’t reach the city any more and the norias fell into disrepair, the government realized this was bad for tourism, an important source of income here. Holding water was forbidden, and now 17 of the original 30 norias are restored to their full glory and again are pumping water into the city, groaning and splashing - I’m sorry I didn’t take a tape recorder! A friendly guard even lets us into the park for free (normally an entrance fee is required for the park) so we can walk a bit farther to see another group of norias.
