kal'at

Updated: May 6, 2025

We are glad of the long, wide views westward over the treeless mountains of Naphtali and the southern ridges of the Lebanon, and of the glimpses of the ruined castles of the Crusaders, Kal'at esh-Shakîf and Hûnîn, perched like dilapidated eagles on their distant crags. Everything seems to us like a personal gift. We have the feeling of ownership for this day of all the world's beauty.

Henry Van Dyke - Out-of-Doors in the Holy Land: Impressions of Travel in Body and Spirit

Perched on the high battlements we look across the valley of Huleh and the springs of Jordan to Kal'at Hûnîn on the mountains of Naphtali, and to Kal'at esh-Shakîf above the gorge of the River Lîtânî. From these three great fortresses, in the time of the Crusaders, flashed and answered the signal-fires of the chivalry of Europe fighting for possession of Palestine.

Henry Van Dyke - Out-of-Doors in the Holy Land: Impressions of Travel in Body and Spirit