Yehi'am Fortress National Park

Yehi'am Fortress National Park

Part of the fortress
Location Northern District, Israel
Nearest city Yehiam
Coordinates 32°59′39″N 35°13′19″E / 32.9941°N 35.2219°E / 32.9941; 35.2219Coordinates: 32°59′39″N 35°13′19″E / 32.9941°N 35.2219°E / 32.9941; 35.2219
Official website

Yehi'am Fortress National Park is an Israeli national park in the western Upper Galilee on the grounds of Kibbutz Yehi'am, whose main attraction are the ruins of a hilltop castle. The structure is based on the Crusader-time Iudyn Castle built by the Teutonic Order after 1220, destroyed by the Mamluk sultan Baibars sometime between 1268 and 1271, rebuilt and expanded by the Bedouin ruler Zahir al-Umar as Qal'at Jiddin (Jiddin Castle) in the 1760s and destroyed again by Ahmed Jezzar Pasha around 1775.[1][2] The ruined fortress, known as Khirbat Jiddin (lit. "ruins of Jiddin"), was later inhabited by Bedouin tribes. The establishment of a kibbutz in 1946 is described on the Kibbutz Yehi'am page.

The buildings include a watch tower with a lookout platform, mosque, and large vaulted hall.[3]

The 1948 trenches laid around the castle can also be visited.

Archaeological finds in the park but outside the castle precinct include the remains of a Roman fort, a Byzantine monastery, burial caves, stones inscribed with crosses and fragments of mosaic.[4]

See also

References

  1. ↑ Pringle, Denys (1997). Secular buildings in the Crusader Kingdom of Jerusalem: an archaeological Gazetter. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 0521 46010 7.
  2. ↑ Pringle, R. D., A. Petersen, M. Dow and C. Singer (1994). "Qalʿat Jiddin: A castle of the Crusader and Ottoman periods in Galilee.". Levant. 26: 135–66.
  3. ↑ "http://www.attractions-in-israel.com/galilee/galilee-national-parks/yehiam-fortress-national-park-%E2%80%93-yehiam-crusader-fortress-protects-settlers-in-1948/". Attractions in Israel. Retrieved 30 July 2013. External link in |title= (help)
  4. ↑ "Help from above - Jerusalem Post | HighBeam Research". highbeam.com. Retrieved 5 February 2016.
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