Mons Peregrinus
| Mons Peregrinus | ||
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 Mons Peregrinus, 2009 |
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| Alternative name (s): | Qalat Sandschil, Pilgrim's Mountain, Citadel of Raymond of Saint-Gilles |
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| Creation time : | 1103-1104 | |
| Castle type : | Hill castle | |
| Conservation status: | ruin | |
| Place: | Tripoli | |
| Geographical location | 34 ° 26 '0.4 " N , 35 ° 50' 40.2" E | |
| Height: | 25 m | |
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Mons Peregrinus ( Pilgrim's Mountain ) was a Crusader castle near the city of Tripoli in Lebanon . It is located on a hill about five kilometers inland. The castle served as the central base for the crusaders to conquer and control the city and its surroundings.
history
After the First Crusade, Raymond IV of Saint-Gilles , Count of Toulouse , pursued his own interests, which were less directed towards Jerusalem and more towards the creation of a principality of his own. In particular, he intended to create a counterweight to the principality of Antioch established by Bohemond of Taranto . He had already occupied the port of Tortosa ( Tartus ) in 1102 and has since besieged the city of Tripoli without success.
In order to emphasize this siege, he began to build the castle in the last months of 1103 - its construction is considered to be the beginning of the county of Tripoli - whereby he received stonemasons and building materials from Cyprus by the Byzantines in return for his previous work Stopping Tankred von Hauteville from attacking Latakia . The castle was ready in the spring of 1104 - and Raimund's son Alfons Jordan was born here. Raimund gave the castle the name Pilgrim's Mountain, but on the Islamic side it was called Qalat Sandschil , the castle of Saint-Gilles .
The castle cut off Tripoli from land routes, but not from sea routes. Nevertheless, the townspeople attacked Pilgersberg in late summer 1104 and burned everything between the town and the castle, with Raimund IV suffering burn injuries during the fighting, which resulted in death six months later on February 28, 1105. The disputes over his successor contributed to the fact that the siege of Tripoli could only be ended on July 12, 1109 with the capture of the city .
The castle was destroyed when Tripoli was conquered by the Mamluks in 1289 and was rebuilt in 1307/08 by the Emir Essendemir Kurgi .
Further extensions took place under the Ottoman Sultan Suleiman the Magnificent . In the early 19th century, the citadel was restored under the Ottoman governor of Tripoli Mustafa Agha Barbar . Only part of the foundation walls and the western wall of the citadel date from the time of the Crusaders. Today the ruin is no longer outside the city, but in the core of the new Tripoli, since Tripoli was completely destroyed and depopulated by the Mamluks in 1289 and the city was not re-founded exactly at the old location, but at the foot of the destroyed crusader castle.
North Lebanon & Akkar Museum
The castle now houses the North Lebanon & Akkar Museum. The small museum has a remarkable numismatic collection that covers most of the eras from the Hellenes to the Ayyubids .
Individual evidence
literature
- Steven Runciman : History of the Crusades . CH Beck, Munich 2001.