White Chastel

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The White Chastel (named the white tower by the inhabitants of the region) is located in Syria between Tortose and Tripoli in the inner mountains.
It was built by the Templars on already existing fortifications. This tower was not the only fortification of the Syrian city of Safita, but it was the only one to resist throughout the period - including the earthquake of 1202. The town of Safita is built on three hills. The tower was built on the hill that offers the best view of the surrounding countryside and especially the other citadels of the area.

History
After having seized it enlarged and consolidated the Chastel Blanc to make it one of the strong squares gridring Tripoli County.

Organization

With a dimension of 18 by 31 meters, the Chastel Blanc peaks at 28 meters high. The two floors of the structure were built of limestone and the floor covered with large stone plates. The chapel dedicated to Saint Michael occupies the ground floor, rising 17 meters high for thirty-one meters in length. Several small windows, which archers used to defend the tower, are on the second floor. It can be accessed by a recently renovated staircase ramp. The white Chastel ceiling is supported by robust columns. The large bell adjacent to the western wall can be heard five kilometers from Safita. By a second ramp of stairs starting from the second floor, one reaches the roof of the tower, from where one sees the snowy mountains of Lebanon, the city of Tripoli, the Mediterranean and the Krak of the Knights.

State
Renovation work was undertaken during the French mandate in Syria (1920-1946), not without causing many inconvenience to the villagers living around.

See also
List of Eastern Templar Fortresses
List of Syrian castles by region

References
The article Safita on the English Wikipedia, which served as the basis for this article;

REY Emmanuel-Guillaume, Study on the Monuments of the Military Architecture of the Crusaders in Syria and Cyprus, National Impr., 1871, pp. 85ss.

Templar Fortress
Castle in Syria
Tripoli County