Castle of Smar Jbeil

The castle of Smar Jbeil is a medieval stronghold located in the village of Smar Jbeil in the Batroun district of Lebanon, which is situated on a rocky promontory overlooking Nahr al-Madfoun (Madfoun River). It is a small tower-and-bailey castle with a rock-cut ditch, built during the Crusader period and serving as a feudal stronghold within the County of Tripoli. Constructed in three phases during the twelfth century by the Franks, the castle is surrounded by curtain walls, four corner towers, two mid-wall towers, and a barbican defending its entrance. Within its walls stood a range of interior structures, including a central donjon tower set on a bedrock podium, a chapel, a great hall, a stable, and storerooms.The castle likely belonged to a knight rewarded with the surrounding land as a fief, likely in recognition of service to the County of Tripoli's ruler. Its strategic position afforded views of the Mediterranean, the Mount Lebanon range, and the surrounding districts of Batroun and Jbeil. No contemporary Crusader-period records mention the castle, and its Latin name has not been identified. Surveys at the site have revealed evidence of earlier occupation spanning the Bronze Age and Roman periods, including a necropolis, funerary bas-reliefs, and rock-cut cisterns that predate the Crusader fortifications. The County of Tripoli fell to the Mamluk Sultanate in 1289, as the

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