The Castles of Shughr and Bakas

About 8 kilometres north-west of Jisr al-Shughur, two castles face each other on the bank of the Orontes: Bakas and Shughr. Between them runs a deep, ditch-like valley that is itself called al-Shughr. The sources treat the two as a single fortification and name them together. In 1188 they were one of the links in Saladin’s northern campaign; today they are in ruins.

What the sources say

In his geographical dictionary, Mu’jam al-Buldan, Yaqut al-Hamawi describes Bakas as a castle in the district of Aleppo, on the bank of the Orontes, with a spring rising beneath it. The origin of the nearby town’s name is also disputed: one view ties al-Shughur to this castle, another to the word thughur, meaning frontier marches.

From 1188 to 1408

In 1188 Saladin, having taken Sahyun, today’s Saladin Castle, turned here. The Crusaders had abandoned Bakas and withdrawn to Shughr, and Bakas fell without a fight. The Mongols wrecked the castle in 1260 and the Mamluk sultan Baybars repaired it. The earthquake at the end of 1408 brought it down, and only fifty of the people inside survived.

How it stands today

The remains are ruined. We found no verified source on the present state of the site, its paths or the road, and the castle is not marked on maps either. Anyone who wants to go needs someone in Jisr al-Shughur who knows the way. Roads and checkpoints change.

How long it takes

An hour among the ruins, plus the time it takes to find the way.

Don’t miss

The valley between the two castles. The logic of the place reads there: two separate heights on the edge of the Orontes with a natural ditch between them. That is how the Crusaders could give up Bakas and fall back to Shughr.