More crazy castles

Just south of Hama are two wonderful castles. The first, at Masyaf, was home to the Ismaili sect who got their bravery from use of hashish, and from this, the word assassin is derived.

The second is the amazing Crac de Chevaliers. This is a schoolboy's dream of a castle, perched on an outcrop guarding the Homs Gap which is the only break in the mountains in north Syria and therefore was a vital strategic position.

It is a huge fortress with an outer and inner castle. There are almost no restrictions on where you can explore and certainly no safety rails etc. Safety is very much your personal responsibility. One reason the Crusaders built such robust castles was that the Crusaders were few n number. Therefore they built big castle with huge thick walls which could be defended by a small number of men.