Castle Al-Mudiq   Maalula Homs Crac Chevaliers Aphamea Mudiq Castle Hama   When the wind that habitually sweeps through the Orontes valley drops and the blazing heat cools on the plain, heavy tractor-drawn carts can be seen bringing groups of farm workers back from the fields - a lively fresco of smiling faces and brightly-colored scarves. Here half-way between Misyaf and Jisr al Shoghour, the Ghab can be seen in all its lush new fertility. Wide irrigation canals now contain the waters of the Orontes which only yesterday flowed to waste in insalubrious marshland. Behind a clump of trees the water tanks of a fish-farm give the impression of an oasis - a green spot amid the golden cornfields. As late as 1955, as one can see from photographs, the area abounded in pools of dirty, stagnant water, the remains of a fast lake much esteemed in ancient times for its stocks of catfish. Heavily-laden lorries make their way slowly down the road, leaving hot furrows behind them in the tar which has melted in the heat. Most of them are making their way towards a great brown castle whose massive towers rise from high cliffs to survey the valley, at the point where another ravine joins it. This is Qalaat al-Mudiq, "the fortress on the defile." Below the town, a vast (approximately 7,000 m2) square khan (or caravansary) with blank walls, built during the Ottoman era in about 1524, was once a haven to the caravans and pilgrims traveling up and down the natural corridor formed by the Orontes. One of the best preserved khans in Syria with its high vaulted rooms positioned around a huge courtyard, it has been classed a historic monument, restored by the Department of Antiquities and converted into a museum to house all the region's riches. There are steep paths leading up from the caravansary to the ramparts and a little 16th century mosque, half-way up to the slope. But it is more convenient to follow the surfaced road as it winds round the town to the north. From the ramparts, the view of the Ghab's deep valley and the other steep-sided valley which earned the town its Arabic name, certainly makes the climb worthwhile. A link in the chain of medieval fortresses which formed a continuous line of defense along the Orontes valley, the "fortress on the defile" suffered the same reversals of fortune as its neighbors, from the 10th to the 13th century. Like Shaizar to the south and Jisr al Shoghour to the north it was the scene of battles between Arabs and Byzantine forces, and between Crusaders and Saracens (Nour ad-Din finally recaptured it from the princes of Antioch, in July 1149). But the earthquakes of 1157 and 1170 did even more damage. The fortress was nevertheless restored at the beginning of the following century. Its square towers, the use of sections of columns to bond the stones in its walls, its steep even-sloped glacis- all these are characteristic features of Arab castles of this period. Only the ancient citadel where the population used to take refuge has survived until today, however. Other towns in the north of Syria (Hama, Shaizar, Homs, Antioch) were also destroyed. This similarity in appearance and situation to other Syrian fortifications would lead to the neglect of Qalaat al-Mudiq (it is some distance from the main highways) were it not for the fact that it is also an important archaeological site and the living remnant, as it were, of ancient Apamea , a town with a along and glorious history. A Belgian expedition has patiently excavated what remains of this city, in the neighboring valley and on the plateau to the east of the medieval town.
© UR Travel 2006