Tenth-century Syrian castle at risk after earthquake

Fortress of Saladin has survived centuries of conflicts

A picture shows a view of the Saladin Fortress, a UNESCO World Heritage site, in Syria's mostly government-held Latakia province on March 7, 2023. - A devastating earthquake that hit Turkey on February 6 killed more than 50,000 people, almost 6,000 of them in Syria where dozens of heritage sites were damaged including the Fortress of Saladin in Latakia province and the old city of Aleppo. (Photo by Louai Beshara / AFP)

The Saladin Fortress is an architectural treasure with Byzantine roots in the 10th century rebuilt by Frankish Crusaders in the 12th century

The hilltop fortress surrounded by forest was among dozens of cultural heritage sites that officials say were damaged by the earthquake

The Saladin fortress has been on the United Nations' World Heritage List since 2006, and on the list of World Heritage in Danger since 2013, two years after the start of Syria's civil war

But the castle scraped through the conflict unscathed and was still open to the public - until last month's quake

Custodian Zuhair Hassoun feared that aftershocks or even heavy rain could cause further damage to the site, whose main facade is now cracked from top to bottom

'All of the fortress's towers are in danger,' Hassoun said, warning that one had already fallen after the quake

Hassoun leads the way into the citadel to show damaged areas due to a destructive earthquake

The earthquake hit one of the longest continuously inhabited areas on the planet within the so-called Fertile Crescent home to ancient civilisations including the Sumerians and Phoenicians

This rich history has left behind a plethora of archaeological sites, many of them thousands of years old

A section inside the Saladin Fortress

The National