The fortress location was originally a Jewish village existing nearby during the Roman and Byzantine periods, the Hebrew name meaning ‘Star of the Jordan’ The Arab name Kawkab al-Hawa means 'Star of the Wind. The Belvoir fortress is situated on a Hilltop in the northern part of Israel between Bet Shean and the lake of Galilee. (ca. 20 km) It is Standing 500 meters above the Jordan River Valley, commanding the route from Gillead to the Kingdom of Jerusalem and including a nearby river crossing. From the castle you have 360
degrees view over the Jordan Valley and the surrounding area. You even can see mount Tabor. It is the best-preserved Crusader fortress in Israel.
The Knight Hospitallers purchased the site from Velos, a French nobleman, in 1168. As soon as the Knights Hospitaller received the land they began with the construction of Belvoir Castle. During the reign of Gilbert of Assailly, Grand Master of the Knights Hospitaller, the order gained around thirteen new castles. Belvoir was the most important one. The fortress of Belvoir served as a major obstacle to the Muslim goal of invading the Crusader Kingdom of Jerusalem from the east. It withstood an attack by Muslim forces in 1180.
In 1182, King Baldwin IV of Jerusalem won the Battle of Belvoir Castle against the Ayyubid sultan, Saladin. However, the
castle was soon after besieged by Saladin’s forces who gained victory over the crusaders at the Battle of Hattin. The siege lasted over a year and a half before the defenders surrendered on 5 January 1189. Belvoir was occupied by an Arab governor until 1219 when Ayyubid rule in Damascus faltered, ceding the fortress to the Franks who controlled it until 1263.
Belvoir is an early example of a concentric castle plan, which was widely used in later crusader castles. The castle was highly symmetric, with a rectangular outer wall, reinforced with square towers at the corners and on each side, surrounding a square inner enclosure with four corner towers and one on the west wall. Vaults
on the inner side of both walls provided storage and protection during bombardments. The castle was surrounded by a moat 20 meters wide and 12 meters deep. As you can see on the pictures the builders used the black basalt stone for the foundations and the lower parts and the softer, less heavy limestone for the upper parts as well as stones left from earlier constructions.
Excavations started in the 1960s. Archaeologists found well preserved areas under the surrounding debris. After restauration the site was opened to visitors. Inside the castle walls, the remains of everything the Knights Hospitaller would have needed: a cistern and bathhouse, a series of vaulted spaces likely used as stables, and of course the keep where soldiers lived
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