Aleika Castle

Inland from Tartus, on a rocky ridge above the village of al-Ulayqa, which also gives the castle its other name, Aleika. The plan is two concentric rings: a long outer wall, and a smaller, higher core inside it. In the 12th century the castle was held by the Syrian Ismailis, and it stayed in use through the crusades.

Getting there

About 85 km from Tartus by car, on mountain roads. Qadmus Castle is 10 km south as the crow flies, so the two fit into one day. The last stretch is narrow and full of bends, and it fogs over in winter.

What is there

What stands is mostly stone: a long run of the outer wall, a few high wall fragments in the core on the crest, and the terraces between them. The masonry is dry-laid, with little mortar. Scrub and grass have grown over the ruins.

Whose castle it was

In the middle of the 12th century the Nizari Ismailis built a network of strongholds in the coastal mountains; Masyaf, al-Kahf, Qadmus, Khawabi and al-Ulayqa all belonged to it. The Mamluk sultan Baybars took them between 1270 and 1273. Most were dismantled afterwards, but Masyaf and al-Ulayqa were rebuilt. That is why there is still something to read on the ground here.

What most people miss

Grave stones carrying Latin inscriptions have been found inside the castle. They are the plainest evidence that the fighting of the crusades reached this ridge, and they sit oddly beside the Ismaili story the rest of the site tells.