Whether he approaches from Lattakia or from Tartous, the traveler, even
if he pressed for time, can not stop as he nears Banias and sees before
him a tall hill with terraced gardens on its slopes and at the top a
huge and glowering fortress. It is enormous: there are no less than
fourteen square and round towers jutting from the curtain wall that
encircles the hilltop to form a triangular bastion. Its southern corner,
sharper than the others and bristling with defenses, has a keep rising
above it like the prow of some great ship.
Glowering: from the massing of these great blank walls which look as if
they are good for a few centuries yet, but glowering above all because
of the funereal black basalt stone of which it is built. These roughly
dressed stone were dug from the hillside, itself an extinct volcano. The
outline of each stone is heightened by the use of white mortar; weeds
now grow lustily from cracks in the walls themselves and in the glacis -
emphasizing still more the contrast between this grim fortress and the
infinite gradations of blue and green in the setting all around - the
scrub, the gardens and orchards, the distant mountains, the huge sky and
the sea for away. Such is impression made by Qalaat Marqab.
A narrow tarred road now leads up to the base of the fortress, on the
western side of the ramparts. Gently sloping steps lead up to a bridge
which leads in turn to an entrance postern half-way up the wall,
protected by a barbican. The outline of the fortress follows the convex
line of the hillside just here and one has an excellent view of the
best-preserved and strongest section of the castle’s defenses.
Yellow gorse and red-flowered pomegranates in the ditches below seem to
be launching a peaceful attack on the great black walls. The affable
keeper who, like some watcher of old, has seen us coming a long way off,
will greet us, offer us tea, post-cards and souvenirs and press us to
sign an impressive Visitor’s Book. Only then shall we be let in to
explore the ruins.
Given that there is far less left standing inside the castle at Marqab
than at Crac Des Chevaliers the tour does not take long. After having
accompanied us to the chapel and the keep, pointed out the gothic arches
and the crenellations, the passageways and the tall narrow slits, and
after having given us a summary of the history and explained the lay-out
of the fortress, our amiable guide leaves us free to wander through the
great vaulted halls and over the grass-grown and windswept rampart
walks. Time passes swiftly as we dream in these evocative surroundings.
The sun is now setting low over the sea, lighting up the stones of
Marqab with its last fiery rays.
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